Evil Thou Art
by Nival Vixen
Summary: All of her years at Hogwarts were unlike any other student's. By choice, not through force. This is Ginevra's story. Evil!Ginny, nearly evil!everyone, except the Golden Trio, of course. Draco/Ginny/Blaise
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, and to be honest, I really don't want him... You can keep the wimp, JK! I've got Draco and Blaise... :smirk:

And now for the real disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter or associated trademarks! Don't sue me!

**Summary:** all of her years at Hogwarts were unlike any other student's. By choice, not through force. This is Ginevra's story... Evil!Ginny, evil!everyone, except the Golden Trio of course.

_A quick note about this story. It follows the events and timelines of the Harry Potter books (_Chamber of Secrets_ onwards), but it is from a different perspective... Read and you will understand! I hope you enjoy it!_

Read on, oh faithful ones!

.-.-.-.

_No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks._

_Mary Wollstonecraft_

.-.-.-.

Chapter One

Draco looked at his father, who nodded curtly. He nodded in return, dipped the quill into the ink and wrote in the diary.

_Hello, Draco Malfoy... Your father tells me that you already know who I am... Are you ready?_ the diary asked.

'Yes.'

_Excellent..._ Tom said and Draco was sucked into the diary in a swirl of colour.

Dobby stopped watching and left quickly. He had to warn Harry Potter...

.-.-.-.

Draco spent nearly every day of his holidays within the diary. He informed Tom of things that were happening in the outside worlds, both wizarding and in briefer detail, Muggle. He reluctantly told him about Harry Potter, and his defeat of Tom's older self at only age one. Then he went into detail about who he was now, his friends; the Mudblood and Weasel.

In return, Tom told Draco things about Hogwarts that he would have never learnt on his own. He told him about Salazar Slytherin's past and the Chamber of Secrets he had built. However, Tom refused to tell him how to get into it, telling him that he would have to wait until he was at Hogwarts to learn of that...

Tom told him about secret passageways in the castle, providing detailed maps on the pages of his diary. He told him about the Room of Requirement and how to get into it.

On the day before Draco went to get his school supplies, Tom talked to both Lucius and Draco...

"Draco is ready... However I would rather have access to someone that is closer to Potter and his friends," Tom said. "Then Draco can instruct them on the things I want to be done."

"Of course, my Dark Lord... We will find someone for you," Lucius said with a low bow.

"Good..."

Father and son disappeared from the diary in swirls of colour.

.-.-.-.

Ginny was annoyed. _Very_ annoyed. Just because she'd talked about Harry over the holidays everyone immediately assumed that she liked him! He'd avoided her for most of the holidays and the only time he'd seen her was when she'd been daydreaming and her elbow had slipped in to the stupid butter dish!

She did not like him _at all_! She just wondered how on earth his magical ability had survived in the Muggle world. When Ginevra's elbow slipped into the butter she had just been daydreaming about going in to the forest with Fred and George... When she'd knocked the porridge bowl on to the ground she had been thinking about Quidditch and if she would have a chance to steal their brooms again when Harry came in suddenly, surprising her... She had no feelings other than mild interest for Mr. Harry-_I-think-everyone-loves-me_-Potter!

Ginny looked around, wondering where everyone had gone without her. She saw Harry coming over with a large pile of books and she gave him a weak smile to show him that she wasn't as stupid as everyone assumed. He didn't see her look or her smile...

Harry dumped Lockhart's books in her cauldron, mumbling about buying his own.

Ginny tried not to feel too shocked or upset. Harry was so proud that he couldn't even accept a charitable gift! Not even her _mother_ gave away gifts!

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" a voice drawled behind them.

Harry and Ginny turned around.

"_Famous_ Harry Potter... Can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page," Draco Malfoy sneered.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" she said, glaring at him, her eyes flashing with much more than anger.

Emotions poured through her veins and as Ginevra saw the surprise on Draco's face, she realised that she felt alive; she was finally free after being trapped for so long...

The look of surprise on Draco's face faded as quickly as it had arrived and he smirked, recognising the look in her eyes.

"Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend_!" he drawled.

The feeling of elation and freedom left her swiftly and Ginny went red in disgust and embarrassment, wishing that she hadn't even opened her mouth.

Ron and Hermione made their way over, Ron looking down his nose at Draco.

"Oh, it's you," Ron said. "I bet you're surprised to see Harry, eh?"

"Not as surprised to see you in a shop, Weasley," Draco drawled in response.

Ginny held back a laugh. It _was_ a good comeback, she had to admit. Draco's eyes flitted to her just before her smile was replaced with a frown and she went red again, knowing that he'd caught her smile.

Ron's face went bright red and he dropped his books in her cauldron.

"Oof!" Ginny said, the cauldron dropping to the ground.

Ron went towards Draco, but Harry and Hermione held him back. Ginny struggled to hold the cauldron up with the weight of all of the books.

"Ron! What are you doing? It's mad in here, let's go outside," Arthur said, coming over with Fred and George.

The twins saw their sister's struggle and quietly took out a few books, adding them to their own piles instead. Ginny was grateful for their quick and light hands. Thanks to them, no one would notice what they were doing and say that she was weak.

"Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley," Lucius said, putting a hand on Draco's shoulder.

He'd seen everything that had been happening from the upstairs balcony; from Draco's smoothly delivered insult to Potter, to the look in the youngest Weasley's eyes and the smile she'd had at his son's next insult. Then that oaf of a Weasley had made to hurt his son.

The boy was _extremely_ lucky that Potter and the Mudblood had held him back...

Lucius had made it down in time to see Ginevra's twin brothers taking a few books out of her cauldron due to the weight her oaf brother had forced her to handle.

"Lucius," Arthur replied, attempting to act cold, but not suceeding.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear. All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?" Lucius said.

He reached in to Ginevra's cauldron and took out a book that Potter and her brother hadn't just shoved in her cauldron, _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_. Ginevra looked down, knowing that he'd seen everything.

"Obviously not..." he drawled. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of a wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" he asked, giving Ginevra a very brief smirk.

She recognised what the look meant immediately. _We can give you so much more..._

Arthur went dark red and Ginny heard him taking a lot of deep breaths.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of a wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," Lucius drawled, his eyes roaming over the Mudblood's Muggle parents, then back to Ginevra fleetingly. "The company you keep, Weasley ... and I thought your family could sink no lower -" he said, addressing the first part of the sentence to Ginevra, and they both knew it.

"Ow!" Ginevra yelped as her father knocked past her, her cauldron flying away from her.

Fred and George quickly stopped the flying cauldron and stood behind her books so she could pick them up safely. When she'd finished in a few seconds, they both gave her a knowing smile and the three of them turned to watch the fight.

"Get him, Dad!" Fred and George called.

"No, Arthur, no!" Molly admonished, shrieking loudly.

"Gentlemen, please - please!" the assistant was shouting.

Ginny saw Hagrid wading through the books and nudged the twins lightly. Fred and George both nodded, groaning in disappointment that the fight was going to end so soon after it had begun.

Lucius looked at Ginny and thrust the book out to her.

"Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you-" he said.

_But if you follow the feeling you had earlier, you could get anything you wanted..._ his eyes said.

Ginny took the book from him, putting it in her cauldron immediately, watching as he and Draco swept out of the shop.

"Let's get outta here," Hagrid finished saying and Ginny went red, having not heard a thing he'd said before.

As her mother ushered them all out of the shop, admonishing her father along the way, Ginny looked back only to meet the cool, knowing stare of four silver eyes. Father and son smirked at her, then left down the street, Lucius' face already healed and immaculate again.

"He was pleased," Fred was saying. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report - said it was all publicity," he said.

"Yeah, that's right... Lockhart's just an attention seeker," George muttered to Ginny, winking at her.

She grinned and waited as everyone Flooed back to the Burrow, wondering about the feeling she'd had earlier.

.-.-.-.

Ginny packed her things early, not too eager to see Harry - he kept looking at her like she had dragonpox. Going through her cauldron, she found her Transfiguration book and set it beside the pile of her other school books. Turning back, Ginny saw another book inside of it. Wondering what subject it was for, she pulled it out to look at the cover.

Seeing it was a diary, Ginny wondered who it belonged to. There were no words written on the front, only the year from fifty years ago and on the back was the newsagent and the road it was located on. Looking inside, she saw the words _T. M. Riddle _scrawled on the front, but all of the pages were blank.

Grabbing her ink bottle and a quill, Ginny sat down with the diary on her bed. She carefully inked her quill and wrote her name in it, watching in surprise as the ink disappeared into the page.

_Hello, Ginevra Weasley. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?_ Came the scrawled response.

'I don't know... I found it in my cauldron,' Ginny wrote back.

_Interesting... Would you allow me to see how you came by it?_ Tom asked.

'How could you do that?' Ginny asked with a frown.

_You would come into the diary and we will both see your memory of how you came by my diary..._ Tom said with a smile. _Would you allow me to see?_

"Hey Ginevra... What're you doing?" Fred and George asked, coming into her room.

"Writing in a diary," she said. "Shouldn't you be preparing for tonight?" she asked, knowing that they were preparing Filibuster fireworks for that evening.

"We've already got it done," they replied grinning. "Mum wanted us to start packing for tomorrow, but we don't feel like it, so we came here instead," Fred and George said, grinning at each other.

Tom's question still waited on the page. Looking to her brothers, Ginny took a deep breath.

"If I do something bad, will you tell me off?" she asked.

"Well... It depends how bad it is," they said with identical smirks.

"I don't know..." Ginny said, looking to the diary again.

"Then we'll come with you to see how bad it is," they said decisively with nods.

'Can two of my brothers come too?' Ginny wrote.

_... Yes,_ Tom wrote after a moment.

"Can you close the door? I don't want anyone to see in case something bad does happen," Ginny said quietly.

Fred and George nodded and shut the door. They walked behind her, to see the word 'yes' fading in to the page.

"What was that?" George asked in shock.

"How did that happen?" Fred asked, just as shocked as George.

"I don't know," Ginny said nervously.

The pages of the diary started to blow and flip, going right to the end of the book. Miniscule words started to scrawl under the 'notes' section of the diary. As the three siblings looked down at it, they found themselves tilting forwards, the words becoming larger and they fell through a swirl of colour and shadow.

"Hello Ginevra," a voice said and they turned to see a young boy, much like Harry, standing there. "Won't you introduce me to your brothers?" Tom asked with a charming smile.

"We _can_ introduce ourselves, you know," Fred and George muttered.

"These are my brothers. This one here is George, and the one on my left is Fred," Ginny introduced them politely.

"It is a pleasure to meet you George and Fred," Tom said smoothly.

"How'd we get in here?" they asked in response.

"It was my diary that was given to your sister. How you got in here was just a bit of Advanced magic that you may learn while you are at Hogwarts, _if_ you know where to look..." Tom said with a smirk.

"Will you teach me?" Ginny asked in excitement, eager to learn _any_ kind of magic that wasn't to do with household work.

"With your brothers permission, that is what I intended to do," Tom said giving her a charming smile. "But first I would like to see how you received this diary, rather than the person it was meant for," he said.

"You're not going to hurt her, are you?" Fred and George asked, moving Ginevra behind them slightly when Tom pulled a wand out of his robe pocket.

"Do not be ridiculous... I have agreed for her to learn from me and you think I would hurt her before the lessons have even begun?" Tom asked with a laugh.

Before the twins could protest to that, Tom pointed his wand directly at Ginevra and the black background disappeared.

.-.-.-.

Fred and George looked around in wonder, seeing the events that had happened at Flourish and Blotts earlier that month. They realised that Ginevra wasn't with them and wondered where she was, then returned their attention to her memory.

At one point, everything froze and Tom looked very pleased about something, but then it started again and Fred and George got to watch the fight between Arthur and Lucius again.

As Ginny Flooed back to the Burrow, the memory faded and they were back in the place with the black background, Ginevra sitting on the floor looking exhausted.

Fred and George immediately rushed over to her, worried for their sister.

"Do not worry, she is not hurt... The spell I performed on Ginevra is an exhausting one, unless you are used to its effects. She will be fine after a good night's rest," Tom said.

"Take us back... We've got to get her to her room before someone finds out that we're missing," Fred said, George picking Ginevra up in his arms.

"Very well... Do tell Ginevra that I will speak to her again soon... Enjoy your year at Hogwarts. It will be interesting for everyone," Tom said with an evil smirk as he waved his wand.

Colours swirled around them quickly and it felt as if they were flying backwards...

.-.-.-.

Fred and George landed on the floor, quickly moving to catch their falling sister. They caught her in their arms and gently stood up, laying her on the bed.

Ginevra's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at them.

"I heard you in my mind," she said with a yawn.

"Rest now, Ginevra..." they said, smiling and putting the blanket over her.

"Wake me for dinner," she murmured, rolling over and falling asleep.

Glancing to each other, Fred and George left her room quietly, closing the door behind them and going up to their own room to talk and pack their things.

.-.-.-.

"Ginevra... You have to wake up," Fred and George said quietly, shaking their sister awake.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, opening her eyes wearily.

"Dinner's not for another two hours... Come on, we want to talk to you," they said, opening her window.

Ginevra blinked her eyes in an effort to wake herself up properly, then followed the twins out of her window and on to the roof. They scrambled up the roof in sync with the ghoul's noise, so that their mother wouldn't find out and ban them.

"What's going on? Why'd you wake me up?" Ginny asked, sitting between her favourite brothers.

"We want to talk to you about that diary you found," George said.

"What about it? You're not going to make me throw it away, are you?" Ginevra asked desperately.

Fred and George put their arms around her.

"Calm down, Ginevra... We were just going to warn you to be careful... Nothing overboard like Mum or Ronnie-kins though, don't worry," they added grinning at her.

"We trust you to make your own decisions and learn from them..." Fred said.

"So you'll let me keep the diary then?" Ginevra asked.

Fred and George nodded.

"What's the catch?" she asked suspiciously, knowing her brothers far too well.

"We want you to tell us every time that you go into the diary..." George said.

"We also want to go in a few more times before you learn anything from him," Fred added.

"And if you think we'll like it, then ask Tom if he'll teach us too," George said, winking at her.

"Thank you," Ginevra said happily, hugging them tightly.

"You're welcome, Ginevra," they said, then grinned at her. "Now on to more important things... Do you think we could sneak off to the forest before dinner without anyone knowing that we're gone?"

"We can always try," Ginny said, grinning at them.

Now that the ghoul was quiet, they silently made their way along the rooftop and back into Ginny's room. After sneaking downstairs with the twins, Ginevra distracted her parents with meaningless talk of how great Hogwarts was going to be as Fred and George went outside.

"I'm going to go outside and feed the chickens now... I'll be back in time for dinner," she said with a grin, quickly leaving before her mother could get her to help with anything.

Ginny headed to the chicken coop, knowing that Molly would check up on her out of the window. She threw them their grains for dinner slowly and waited for a few minutes after her mother's face had left the kitchen window before running down to the forest.

Slipping in between the trees, Ginevra quickly and skilfully made her way along a hidden path to a large clearing where Fred and George were waiting for her.

"Fed the chickens?" they asked, guessing her excuse immediately, the feathers on her skirt a dead giveaway.

Ginevra nodded. "Gods, I hate them... They're just feather-brained idiots who only care where their next grain's coming from," she muttered, flicking the feathers off her skirt.

"You shouldn't talk about Mother and Father like that," Fred and George said grinning at her.

"Oh, shut up! You know I was talking about the chickens!" Ginny muttered, glaring at them playfully.

"Sure you were, Ginevra," they drawled, grinning cheekily.

Ginevra pulled a face at them then sat down next to them, leaning against George tiredly.

"Did Tom say anything to you before?" she asked with a yawn.

"He said that he'd speak to you again," George said.

"Then he said for us to enjoy our year at Hogwarts and that is was going to be interesting," Fred finished with a shrug.

"Why do you think he said that?" Ginny asked with a frown, curling up and resting her head on Fred's lap.

"He could know something that we don't," George suggested.

"Something's going to happen," the twins said decisively.

"Think we'll be a part of it?" Ginny asked.

"We might be..." they replied.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Where are you?!" Molly's voice rang out.

"Broomshed," the twins said.

Ginny sighed and nodded, standing up and running out of the forest, but along another path this time. She came out of the side of the forest, slowed her breathing back to normal, then walked over to her mother.

"You wanted me, Mum?" she asked, smiling innocently.

"Yes, I did... Where were you?" Molly asked looking at her daughter pointedly, unaware that her look didn't scare Ginny.

"I was by the pond, getting all of the chicken feathers off my skirt," Ginny lied easily, not even blinking an eyelid.

"All right then dear," Molly said, now all smiles again. "Do you know where Fred and George have gotten to? I'm sure they're up to something," she said with a frown.

"I think I saw them out by the broomshed," Ginny said.

"Very well... I had better go get them myself. The Gods know they won't come when I call them," Molly said with a smile. "Will you be a dear and set the table for dinner?" she called over her shoulder as she went down to the broomshed.

_It's not like you've given me much choice now, have you Mother?_ Ginny drawled in her mind, quickly going inside to do her mother's bidding.

Ginny set the table quickly and quietly, trying not to distract Ron or Harry, who were playing wizard's chess. As her thoughts drifted to Tom and the diary, Ginny gave a secret smile. Percy walked in and saw her smiling.

"Hello Ginny... Thinking about someone in particular?" he asked, glancing over in Harry's direction with a grin.

Ginny tried not to grimace and just nodded her head. Percy was distracted quickly as the twins came inside loudly, Molly behind them muttering and complaining about the mess they were making.

"Well if you'd let us land properly then we wouldn't be this muddy now would we, Mother?" they teased smirking at her.

"That is not the point! Now both of you upstairs and get changed! I want you down here in ten minutes helping Ginny to set the table!" Molly said, shooing them up the staircase.

"I've finished setting the table," Ginny said quietly.

Molly turned quickly, as if surprised to see her daughter there and gave her a smile.

"Thank you, dear. Better not tell the twins that. They'll never come downstairs," she said in a whispered tone.

"Do you mind if I go upstairs and get ready for dinner now? I still have a few feathers on my skirt," Ginny said.

"Of course, dear. You want to look your best when we have company," Molly said, giving a look in Harry's direction.

Ginny ran upstairs, rolling her eyes. Once in her room, she changed into comfortable clothes before grabbing the diary and hurrying up to the twins room. She knocked three times, then another two times before waiting.

Fred and George opened the door, ushering Ginny inside before they looked around suspiciously and closed the door. They quickly threw on shirts that weren't muddy and sat on the bed, looking at her.

"I want to go in again," Ginny said.

"Already?" they asked, not really surprised.

"Yes. I can handle it now," she said confidently.

"You should wait until after dinner... Mother expects us downstairs in a few minutes and she's going to need you to do some menial task for her. Besides, you should really get some food into you before you try anything again," they said practically.

Ginny sighed and nodded.

"I guess you're right. I'll just tell Tom that I'll talk to him after dinner," she said, grabbing a quill from their desk.

"You won't want to use _that_ quill, Ginevra... Exploding Quill," they said smirking at her look.

"Thanks for the warning. Which one is an ink-quill?" she asked looking at the small assortment of quills on their messy and untidy desk.

"That black one should be fine," Fred and George said.

Grabbing the quill, Ginevra opened the diary and quickly scribbled a message for Tom.

"Fred! George! Your ten minutes are up!" Molly yelled from downstairs.

"It's only been eight... She's going senile," they said with nods to each other. "You better leave before she comes up here," they whispered to Ginny, ushering her out the window.

Clutching the diary, Ginny quietly made her way across the roof and slipped into her room just as her mother's footsteps sounded on their landing. Molly started banging on Fred and George's door loudly, yelling at them to hurry up.

Ginny shook her head and put the diary under her pillow before leaving her room and going downstairs, past her oblivious mother.

.-.-.-.

Dinner was filled with every one of Harry's favourite dishes. Luckily for Ron, he liked anything that was edible so he was almost drooling over the treacle pudding that was brought out for dessert. Ginny however, didn't like much of the food on the table and she _hated_ treacle pudding, a fact that her mother knew.

After eating as much as she could handle of the foods she liked, Ginny tried to get excused from the table to no avail. Molly hushed her and Ginny was forced to sit at the table while Harry and Ron had their third, fourth and fifth helpings of dessert.

"Tonight we will be doing a lovely show for you," Fred and George announced when everyone was seated around the cosy kitchen.

Harry watched them eagerly, while Molly gave them warning glares to make them behave. Ignoring everyone, Fred and George grinned at Ginny, knowing how desperate she was to leave.

"Introducing... Filibuster fireworks!" they said with low bows, the red and blue fireworks exploding up from behind them and filling the kitchen up quickly.

Red and blue lights flashed throughout the small room and Ginny quickly ran out, Fred and George only a few seconds behind her as Molly and Arthur shouted and tried to get the fireworks to stop.

Running up to Ginevra's room, the twins shut the door behind her. Turning to their sister, they saw that she already had the diary out and was scribbling in it quickly.

'We don't have much time, Tom.'

_Very well..._ was all he replied with and the three siblings were sucked into the diary.

.-.-.-.

"Hello again. Are you sure that you are up to this already, Ginevra?" Tom asked looking at her.

"I'm sure. I'll be fine," she replied confidently.

"Of course you will be," Tom said with a smile. "With the amount of limited time that you have, there are only a few things that I can teach you," he said, his wand appearing in his hand. "I presume that you know what deception is?" he asked, looking at the three siblings.

"We _invented_ the word!" Fred and George said smirking.

"You only deceive when you think it is necessary," Tom stated. "You only deceive mildly to get out of trouble with your parents," he said. "_True_ deception is being able to continue it over long periods of time and not breaking once. Your stories must all fit together and no one should be able to get you caught off guard," Tom said.

"We do that all the time!" Fred and George protested.

"How?"

"We deceive our mother nearly every day. We're not allowed in the forest, but every day we go in there and any time she asks where we've been we know exactly what to say," they replied.

"And if she asks another person of your whereabouts?" Tom asked pointedly.

"She only ever asks Ginevra..." Fred said.

"Ginevra's always with us so she knows what to say," George finished.

"Well that is all very well and good, but what if your mother asks another sibling?" Tom asked.

"They're not smart enough to say anything other than '_we don't know_'," Fred and George muttered in distaste.

"Very well... What would your family think if they don't find you around for a few hours?" Tom asked Ginevra.

"They'll probably think that I'm trying to find Harry Potter," she said with a disgusted roll of her eyes.

"You can keep that up for a few weeks?" he asked.

"I don't have to. We're going to Hogwarts tomorrow," Ginevra said with a grin.

"So soon? Very well. Be sure to keep up with the facade of liking... _Harry Potter_," Tom snarled.

"What's with the hostility?" Fred and George asked, slightly surprised at the hatred in his tone.

"I will talk with Ginevra of it later. Now, you must return before anyone grows suspicious of your absence," Tom said.

"All right," Ginevra said nodding her head. "I'll talk to you later," she said giving the older boy a smile.

Tom nodded and with a wave of his hand, they fell through a swirl of colours and back into Ginevra's room.

"Fred! George! Get out here! Get those fireworks out of the kitchen right now!" Molly yelled.

"Ah, the blissful sounds of our return," Fred and George muttered sarcastically. "We're coming!" they yelled back, leaving Ginevra's room.

Ginny hid the book under her pillow again and went downstairs to help the twins.

.-.-.-.

Ginny said goodnight to everyone, yawning widely. Once out of earshot and their sight, she ran up the stairs quickly, shutting and locking her door behind her. She changed into her pyjamas and waited patiently. Not even five minutes later, there was a knock at her window and Fred and George climbed inside, sitting on her bed.

'Hello Tom.'

_Hello Ginevra. Fred, George, a pleasure... (I presume that your brothers are with you.)_

'Of course they are!' Ginny replied, grinning.

"Ask him about what was wrong before," Fred and George whispered in unison.

"All right. I'm getting to it," Ginny muttered, writing their question on the page.

_My full name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. I was named after my both my Father and Grandfather, respectively. As I despise both of them, I changed the letters of my name to form another one soon after leaving Hogwarts._

The letters of Tom's name began to move, as if they were picked off the page and moved by an unseen hand.

_I am Lord Voldemort..._

"Voldemort?" Ginny hissed in surprise. "What do I do? This probably isn't good. Mother always said that he was a bad man," she said to Fred and George.

"We don't know... We can't tell Mother or Father about the diary. We'll get into trouble for talking to Lord Voldemort, no matter if he is in a diary or not. We don't know if Mother was right about him being a bad man anyway... Sure he killed those people, but..." Fred and George looked at each other, as if trying to decide something silently.

"_What_? But _what_?" Ginny asked.

"But we've always been interested in the things he did... He never killed them the same way twice. The only people that did that were his followers. He had such... _ingenius_ ways of killing people," they said in a rush, as if to make it sound not as bad that they were intrigued by 'You-Know-Who'.

Ginny was slightly surprised and hurt that they hadn't told her any of this before. She watched as their eyes lit up with excitement as they continued talking about the various things Lord Voldemort had done, not even half of it sinking in.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ginny asked, interrupting them.

"We thought that maybe you would have gone and told Mother... We didn't want to get into trouble like we did with Ronnie-kins and the Unbreakable Vow," they said; Fred moving his buttocks slightly, still haunted by the pain.

"You think I would tell Mother something that you are so passionate about? Even if it was something like this I would not have told her! I am not a silly little child," Ginevra said with a glare.

"We know that now, Ginevra. When we were first interested in this we weren't sure," they said, putting arms around her lovingly.

"When were you first interested?" she asked curiously. Surely they would have known that she wasn't a silly child, even at a younger age.

"After we got into trouble for the Unbreakable Vow," Fred and George said, grinning at each other broadly. "We knew if something could get us into _that_ much trouble then it was definitely worth looking in to," they said. "We asked discreet questions about Voldemort and the Death Eaters until we went to Hogwarts," they said, still grinning.

Ginny looked at them in surprise.

"Even Mother and Father?" she asked.

"Of course not! Bill and Charlie informed us. While they were at Hogwarts, we asked for some chapters from particular books. Since those two didn't like reading textbooks back then, we were safe. They didn't ask what we wanted it for, they both just presumed that we looked up to Percy and wanted to be like him, since he was asking for information too."

Ginny scoffed at this, knowing how much the twins disliked their older brother.

"When we got to Hogwarts, that was a different matter. We excelled in Transfiguration, especially in transfiguring a book cover for another. Most of the joke and prank books we supposedly read were actually books on the Dark Arts from the library. Last year was the best though... We found out that Potter had an Invisibility Cloak. The Restricted books are even better to read than the stuff we'd been reading," Fred and George said wistfully.

The almost-forgotten diary in Ginny's hands shook and they looked to it again.

_Is everything all right? Have you gone into shock?_ Tom had asked.

'Everything is fine. No, I have not gone into shock. I was just discussing with Fred and George whether to talk to you or not. They have liked your ... achievments for quite some time it seems,' Ginevra replied.

_Excellent! And yourself? Will you continue to talk with me, even though you know who I am?_ Tom asked.

'You did promise not to hurt me before our lessons had begun. As I would like to learn from you, then I will continue to talk to you.'

_A wise decision... Would you all like your first lesson now?_

"Ginny! Lights out now, dear! Everyone's gone to bed!" Molly called.

"Not with you yelling they haven't," Ginevra muttered.

She nodded to the twins. They silently moved off the bed, going across the floor quietly, unlocking the door silently. They went over to Ginevra's cupboard and hid inside, shutting the door behind them. Ginny took her shoes off quickly and got into her bed, pulling the covers up.

'We can't tonight, Tom. Do you mind me calling you that? I will call you Voldemort if you would like," Ginny added.

_You may call me Tom. I am aware that it is shorter for you to write,_ Tom said and Ginevra could almost see his smile.

'Thank you...'

_Why are you not able to have your first lesson tonight?_

'Mother is about to come in and she regularly checks our rooms to make sure that we are asleep," Ginny replied.

"Time for bed now, Ginny," Molly said, opening her door and looking inside.

"All right, Mother," Ginevra replied trying not to roll her eyes or groan.

"There's a good girl," she said, giving her a smile.

"Good night, Mother," Ginny said, dismissing her subtly.

"Good night, dear," Molly said, either oblivious or ignoring her daughter's dismissal.

Ginevra waited until her door had closed firmly and Molly's footsteps faded away. After Ginevra gave a slight cough, Fred and George opened the wardrobe door and came out quietly.

"You have a good sleep, all right Ginevra?" they said, hugging her. "We'll see you in the morning," Fred and George said, silently slipping out of her window and hurrying to their room.

Ginevra closed the window after them. She wrote a quick goodbye and goodnight to Tom, putting the diary on her bedside table before laying down and falling asleep easily.

.-.-.-.

(a/n: End of first chapter!)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, don't sue me!

_Despite the fact that I said I wasn't going to, the overwhelming response from the whole eleven people that reviewed, encouraged me to update! _

_I've actually posted five chapters on my Live Journal, if you want to read more on there. _

Chapter Two

Waking up to her mother's yells, Ginny quickly got changed, rushing downstairs and stealing a piece of toast from Fred's plate. Running around and bumping into Harry a few times, she noticed the glazed look in his eyes and rolled her eyes at his over-fascination with their routine.

"Is everyone ready?" Arthur yelled and they filed outside, running late.

Molly pulled Ginny aside.

"Not yet, Ginny dear. I just want to have a quick talk with you," Molly said smiling at her.

Ginny tried not to frown. The last time Molly had wanted a 'quick talk' she'd spent an hour talking about sex. Most of it was stuff that Ginny had already figured out; having six older brothers made sure of _that_...

"All right," Ginny said brightly, as that was expected of her.

"I just want to tell you how proud I am of you..." Molly said.

Ginny nodded and waited, knowing that wasn't all she wanted to say.

"Also, I want you to be careful who you give your heart to, dear. You're the kind of girl who will fall in love easily, and I do not want you to be heartbroken at such a young age," Molly said, giving her a smile.

"I'll be careful," Ginny replied, as was expected.

"There's a good girl," Molly said smiling at her. "Now, hurry into the car dear. We're already running late," she said ushering Ginny outside.

Ginny hurried to the car and got in.

"Muggles _do_ know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" Molly asked in surprise as she got in next to Ginny. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" she asked smiling back at Harry.

Arthur started the car as Ginny coughed over her laughter. She could not believe that her mother was so _dense_!

"Wait! I left my fireworks!" George yelled.

With a groan, Arthur stopped the car and George ran inside, coming back out with his Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes later, the car turned around for Fred's broomstick. A few seconds from the motorway, Ginny realised that she'd left the diary under her pillow and yelled for them to turn around. By the time she'd climbed back inside the car everyone was grumpy and they were running _very_ late.

"Molly, dear - "

"_No_, Arthur."

Ginny could almost hear Fred and George rolling their eyes. Their mother had so much control over their father, it was embarrassing and sickening...

"No one would see. This button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed," Arthur said, averting his gaze from the annoyed looks of Fred and George, who had been the ones to install the button. " - that'd get us up in the air - then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser..."

"I said _no_, Arthur, not in broad daylight."

They drove in an awkward silence, mutters from Arthur interrupting the peace every few minutes.

.-.-.-.

They arrived at King's Cross Station at a quarter to eleven. Arthur locked the car and practically ran across the road to get the trolleys for their luggage. Ginny pushed her trolley, following Fred and George through the busy station.

"Percy first," Molly said, glancing to the overhead clock.

Percy went through pompously, Arthur following him. Fred and George smirked at each other, gave Ginny a reassuring wink then went through quickly.

"I'll take Ginny then you two come after us," Molly said to Ron and Harry. She grabbed Ginny's hand and they went through the barrier, Ginny having to restrain from pulling away from her overbearing and suffocating mother.

Ginny heard a sucking noise as she left the barrier and knew from experience that it wasn't normal for the barrier to do that. She went to tell her mother, but Molly pulled Ginny to the train, ignoring anything that she tried to say.

"Put Ginny's trunk here, dear," she said quickly, Arthur taking the trunk off the trolley and putting it next to the others.

"Bye Ginny! Have a great year!" Arthur said, kissing the top of her head.

"Bye dear! Be good!" Molly said, hugging Ginny tightly.

"Mum! Ron and Harry didn't come through!" Ginny yelled.

"Yes dear, it's all right," Molly said dismissively, ushering Ginny onto the train.

"Fine! Screw you then," Ginny muttered under her breath as the train door shut abruptly.

Clutching the diary to her chest, Ginny made her way along the train, trying to find Fred and George.

"There you are, Ginevra! We thought you'd been left behind!" they said, coming up behind her.

"Oh no, _I_ wasn't the one left behind," Ginny said. "It was Harry and Ron. They're still on the other side of the barrier," she said with a smirk.

"Potter and the Weasel aren't on the train?" a voice said in surprise behind them.

"Malfoy; a _pleasure_ to see you again," Fred and George said sarcastically, turning to see Draco standing behind them.

"_Of course_ it is... Ginevra, I don't believe that we've been formally introduced before. I am Draco Malfoy," he said.

"_Of course_ you are," Ginevra drawled in response, matching his earlier tone easily.

He looked surprised, then smirked at her in admiration.

"_Very_ nice... I presume that you've met Tom?" he asked in a quieter tone.

"And if we have?" Ginevra asked looking at him pointedly.

"What do you think that you're going to do about it?" Fred and George asked glaring down at him.

"Invite you to my compartment to talk over matters that are best kept from others _innocent_ ears," Draco said smirking at their surprised look.

"We'll think about it," Ginny said, leading her brothers away immediately.

Seeing a compartment, Ginny opened the door to see Hermione sitting on the chair, her nose stuck in one of Lockhart's books. Going into the compartment reluctantly with Fred and George, Ginevra sat on the seat and looked over at Hermione, her nose still stuck in the book, despite their entrance.

"Hi Hermione," Fred and George said loudly to attract the younger girl's attention.

"Oh, hi! Sorry! I've had trouble putting these books down since I got them," Hermione said, sounding guilty. "Hi Ginny," she added smiling at her.

"Hello Hermione... How were your holidays?" Ginny asked politely.

"They were wonderful! I just couldn't put down Professor Lockhart's books!" she said eagerly.

"So I just heard," Ginny muttered under her breath.

"Isn't he _wonderful_?" Hermione asked wistfully, looking at the front cover of her Lockhart book, yet again. "He's helped _so_ many people!"

"Great," Ginny muttered, not very enthusiastic.

It was bad enough her mother had to fawn over the conceited and vain idiot, but Hermione doing the same thing just made the whole thing seem worse...

"Have you got your things out yet?" she asked clearly, trying to redirect the topic of discussion.

"I'll do it in a minute... I've got to finish reading the rest of Professor Lockhart's books," Hermione said grinning broadly, sticking her nose in the book again.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Ginny said, but the bushy-haired girl gave no indication of having heard her.

"We're going to find Lee," Fred and George said immediately. Hermione paid them no attention whatsoever.

Opening the compartment door, Ginny, Fred and George went to walk through it, only to bump into three people who were coming inside.

"Hi Neville," Fred and George said brightly. "Who are you two?" they asked grinning at Luna and Colin.

"Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey," Luna introduced smiling at them. "I'm a pureblood and Colin's a half-blood," she said, knowing they would appreciate the extra information.

"Hi Fred and George... Her nose stuck in a book already?" Neville whispered in a low voice.

Fred and George nodded. Ginevra smirked at the boy in front of her, deciding immediately that she liked him.

"Hi. I'm Ginevra," she said, putting her hand out.

"Hi Ginevra... I'm Neville Longbottom and you heard who these two are," Neville said grinning at her.

Ginevra shook hands with the other two as well.

"We're just leaving. She's dead to the world with that book glued to her forehead," Ginevra muttered.

"Where are you going? Everywhere else is full," Colin said with a frown.

"We were invited to a different compartment," Fred and George replied.

"Do you think they'll let us join you too? I'm not too fond of having to spend the rest of the trip with her fawning over Lockhart," Neville said looking at Hermione with a disgusted sneer.

"I don't know," Ginny said shrugging. "Can't hurt to try," she said grinning.

"So who invited you?" Luna asked as they walked down the train corridor.

"Draco Malfoy," Ginny replied, taking pleasure in Neville's shocked gasp. "Here we are," she said, seeing his platinum blonde hair in the compartment.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny knocked on the door. Hearing a few muttered words, the door opened to reveal two large boys. They looked down at Ginny.

"**What** do _you_ want?" they asked glaring at her.

"We were invited," Ginny said, trying not to sound nervous.

Crabbe and Goyle looked back into the apartment, murmuring a few words to Draco.

"You two are completely hopeless. Are you sharing a brain that doesn't have any functioning cells?" Draco drawled, getting off the seat.

They moved out of the way quickly and Draco smirked at Ginevra.

"Ginevra... I do believe that I only invited you," he drawled, seeing the others with her.

"Well, they're with me, so if they don't come inside, then neither do I,' Ginny said with a nochalant shrug.

Draco scrutinised her for a moment, no emotions visible on his face. Ginny stared back at him, her look unwavering.

"Very well..." he said after another moment, stepping back to let them in.

Surprised, but not complaining, Ginny and the others went into the compartment quickly, the small room filling up easily.

"These two you just met are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle," Malfoy introduced; the two boys nodding their heads in acknowledgement. "This is Blaise Zabini," he said, Blaise also nodding to them. "And this is Pansy Parkinson."

"I'm Ginevra Weasley. These are my brothers, Fred and George. This is Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Colin Creevey," Ginny introduced.

"I don't think I like having so many Gryffindors' in here," Pansy muttered, glaring at them.

"We haven't been Sorted yet. We might not be in Gryffindor!" Colin protested for himself, Luna and Ginevra.

Pansy rolled her eyes and ignored him, looking out the window.

"Do you have the diary with you?" Draco asked Ginevra.

"She has the diary?" Blaise asked in surprise.

She nodded, bringing the small diary out from her robe pocket.

"We're going in with her," Fred and George said immediately.

"Not this time... I am," Draco said.

Ginny shook her head as they argued and wrote in the diary.

"You can all come," she announced, their arguing coming to a standstill. "Not just you three. _Everyone_. Tom wants to meet them all," Ginny said.

As everyone looked over Ginevra's shoulder to read the words the diary had supposedly written they all disappeared.

.-.-.-.

"Well, this is definitely cosy," Tom said smiling at everyone. "My apologies. I did not realise that Ginevra was serious about the amount of people in the compartment... Allow me to make some more room," he said and with a wave of his hand, everyone found that they could breathe properly again.

"Thank you," Fred and George said, rubbing their sore ribs.

"You are welcome," Tom said. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said with a charming bow to everyone.

After the introductions were made, Tom looked at each of them in turn, as if judging them.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you. If you do not have any objections, I am going to teach Ginevra and her brothers something. You may join in if you would like," Tom added, seeing their eager looks.

"What are you going to teach them? Hairdressing tips?" Pansy sneered, looking at the messy state of his hair.

Tom laughed, sounding delighted.

"No, my dear. I am going to teach them about Unforgivables," Tom said seriously.

"Do you know how to break them?" Neville asked after a moment of silence.

Tom looked at Neville for a moment, then a look of realisation dawned on his face.

"Your name is Neville Longbottom, correct?" he asked.

Neville nodded, trying not to look too nervous.

"Frank and Alice are your parents?" another nod. "I do apologise about that, Neville. It was never my intention for that to happen to them... Bellatrix certainly got carried away with that," Tom said shaking his head.

"You know who did it?" Neville asked, any nervousness long gone and his face was stern and hard.

"Of course I know who did it. I was the one who sent Bellatrix to get the information from your parents. Bellatrix is Draco's aunt," Tom informed him.

"What are you going to teach us about Unforgivables?" Ginevra asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"What they are and how to use them... The first one you will learn about is the Imperius spell," Tom said, turning back to the three siblings. "The Imperius spell is a form of control," he said.

"Just like Mother has over Father," Fred and George muttered in disgust.

The others laughed and Tom just smiled at them.

"Not exactly," Tom said. "She may have control over your father, but he is still able to think for himself and on a general whole, your father can still make his own decisions... The Imperius spell removes both of those aspects. If I were to put it on your sister, then she would do _any_thing I wanted her to do. Of course, if someone has a strong enough mind, then they can fight it... Ginevra, please step forward," Tom said smiling at her encouragingly.

Nervous, but not wanting to disappoint or admit it, Ginevra nodded bravely and stepped forward.

"_Imperio!_" Tom said.

Ginevra jerked back as the spell hit her. Tom grinned evilly and with a flick of his wand, Ginevra walked to him. She circled around Tom, staring at him seductively.

"Beautiful _and_ seductive," Tom murmured.

Ginevra drew her wand, running the tip along Tom's cheek.

"Dangerous and powerful. You will be the ultimate weapon. You will crush them all with your bare hands, my dear," he said, watching with pleasure as her eyes brightened at the prospect of having so much power. "I want you to fight against the curse. You can feel it pressing against your mind, can't you? Fight it, my dear," he instructed softly.

Ginevra felt the pressure in her mind, making her move back. The pressure pressed against her brain, hitting certain parts for each action Tom forced her to perform. She fought against it, pushing past the pain and pushing the pressure out of her mind. She pushed until her mind was light and in her control again.

"_Very_ good," Tom said sounding pleased with her.

"Can we try it too?" Fred and George asked eagerly after checking that Ginevra was all right.

"Of course," Tom said, turning and putting the Imperius curse on them.

He went through each of them in turn. Even Neville, Luna and Colin agreed to being put under the spell. When he had finished, Tom lowered his wand, looking tired.

"I'm afraid that is all I can do for now. It is quite tiring using so much magical strength after so long," he said. "You should go back to the compartment now. You will most likely arrive at Hogwarts soon," Tom said with a smile.

"Thank you, Tom," Ginny said hugging him.

"You are very welcome. I will talk with you later," he said smiling at her charmingly.

Ginny nodded and they all disappeared from the diary in a swirl of colour.

.-.-.-.

Ginevra looked at everyone around her. They all looked bright from the power they had just experienced. Just as she was about to say something, she heard something from out in the corridor that stopped her orignial words.

"Have you seen Ginny Weasley?" Hermione asked a nearby student.

"Granger's out there looking for me..." she muttered in disappointment.

"We'll distract her. You sneak out while we do that," Blaise said.

"All right," Ginny said. "I can't wait to be in Slytherin," she said grinning.

"You can't," Draco said immediately. "You need to be in Gryffindor to get closer to Potter," he said in disgust.

"But..." Ginny went to protest but then sighed reluctantly. "Fine, I'll do it... Mother would have had a heart attack if I was put into Slytherin. There goes all of the side benefits," she muttered in disappointment.

Draco left the compartment, Gregory and Vincent flanking him.

"Just because you're a Gryffindor on the outside, it doesn't mean you can't be a Slytherin on the inside," Pansy said smirking at them broadly.

"Meet us in the Room of Requirement tonight and we'll show you what we mean," Blaise said.

"The Room of Requirement?" Ginny asked, but was quickly dragged outside by her brothers, Neville, Luna and Colin.

"We'll show you where it is later," Fred and George muttered.

Ginny nodded and rolled her eyes once before putting on a friendly face.

"There you are, Hermione!" Ginny said, refraining from calling her anything other than her first name.

Hermione glared at Malfoy and his two cronies before going over to Ginny and the others quickly.

Draco glanced at Ginevra before going back into the compartment, Gregory and Vincent going inside after him.

"I've been looking for you! Hi Neville. How's Trevor?" Hermione asked with a smile that would have been sarcastic if not for the saint that Granger was.

"Fine. Gran got a cage for him this year," Neville replied.

"Why were you looking for me?" Ginny asked tentatively.

_If you aren't going to talk to me, why did you have to make me leave my real friends?_ her mind snarled at Hermione.

"I was looking for you because I wanted to tell you that we're almost at Hogwarts. Your school robes are still in the compartment," Hermione said smiling again.

"Thanks," she said.

"It's all right! That's what friends are for," Hermione said.

She grinned and led them down the corridor, her bushy hair bouncing in every direction.

"_What friends are for_?" Ginevra muttered in disgust.

Her hand was on her wand in seconds and she was about to curse the older girl when Fred and George grabbed her arm and wand.

"No magic allowed on the train," they said quietly.

"Fine... Just let me rip that fake smile off her face," Ginny snarled to Fred and George as they continued to restrain her.

"If you don't let her do it, can I?" Neville muttered.

"We better follow her, or else she'll come back for us," Colin piped up. "Although I do agree with the ripping her fake smile off, I don't think Potter and your brother would appreciate it," he said with a frown.

"All the more reason to do it," Ginny muttered.

Luna laughed softly and with a grin, she followed Hermione's bouncing head down the train corridor. The others followed her to the compartment _very_ reluctantly.

Hermione had already changed into her robes, eager to arrive at the school. Ginny tried not to roll her eyes and slowly put her robe on, the others putting their school robes on too.

"Have you had anything to eat? The trolley lady came by before and I got some chocolate frogs," Hermione said.

"We're fine, thanks," Ginny replied.

"Have you seen Harry or Ron? I can't seem to find them anywhere and no one's seen them," Hermione said, ignoring Ginny's reply.

"They couldn't get through the barrier," Fred and George said, holding Ginny's hands to stop her from punching the obnoxious girl in the face.

"Really? Oh no! I hope they're using common sense and owling the Headmaster," she said in concern.

"I doubt it," Ginny muttered in a low tone.

Her words were drowned out by the noise of the compartment door opening. An excited first year looked in, grinning at everyone broadly.

"Have you heard the news? There's a _flying car_ following the train!" he said, the words barely getting past his grin.

"What? You shouldn't lie about something like that!" Hermione admonished immediately.

Fred, George and Ginny glanced at each other briefly, reading each other easily.

_Mother and Father are going to _kill_ him..._

_Hope we can watch..._

"It's true!" the first year protested, but Hermione still didn't believe him. Muttering, the boy shut the door again and left.

The train stopped after a few minutes of meaningless chatter, the moonlight streaming in the window.

Ginny said goodbye to her brothers and Neville, adding a quick farewell to Granger as an after thought. The older girl didn't say anything in return and Ginevra glared at her before chancing a look to the Slytherins. They nodded to her in acknowledgement and she smirked before following Luna and Colin over to where Hagrid was calling for first years.

"Firs' years over here! Any more firs' years?" Hagrid asked after a moment. "Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" he called, going away from the other students and down a steep and narrow path.

Everyone was silent and as Ginny looked to either side, she could see the dark and brief outline of trees.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder. 'Jus' round this bend here."

Ginevra rolled her eyes as most of the students went 'oooh' over the castle.

The narrow path opened on to the edge of a great black lake. Now _that_ was more impressive than the castle!

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, indicating to the fleet of little boats sitting in the water.

Ginny quickly got in the same boat as Colin and Luna. No one else got in with them, which was just fine by them.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid. "Right then - FORWARD!"

The boats moved all at once, gliding along the lake easily. Ginny trailed her fingers along the smooth cool water, talking with Luna and Colin quietly.

The castle loomed in front of them, causing a few people to shudder in its dark shadow.

"Heads down!" Hagrid called and everyone ducked as the boats went through a curtain of ivy.

The boats travelled down the dark tunnel, a few sconces lighting it every so often. They all stopped at an underground harbour of sorts and everyone climbed out of the boats onto the rocks and pebbles. After going up a passageway in the rock, and across the grass, they walked up a flight of stone stairs to the castle entrance. Hagrid raised a giant fist and knocked on the door three times.

The door swung open immediately to reveal a tall, black-haired woman in emerald robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said, stating the obvious.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," the woman replied, opening the door further and walking across the flagged stone floor.

They all followed quickly, hearing noises droning in from a doorway on the right. McGonagall ignored the noise and led them to a small chamber on the left. Everyone crowded inside, most of them looking around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your hose, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room.

"The four houses are valled Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," McGonagall said, regarding a few people with disdain. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," Professor McGonagall said, then left the chamber.

Ginny talked with Colin and Luna quietly.

"I'm going to try for Ravenclaw. My mother was Sorted in there," Luna said quietly.

"I have to be in Gryffindor, unfortunately," Ginny muttered in disappointment.

"I'll go in Gryffindor with you," Colin said with a smile. "What's the best way to annoy Granger?" he muttered.

"You could constantly ask for photographs," Ginny suggested, seeing the camera around his neck.

"She might think I like her then," Colin said with a shudder.

Ginny laughed softly, trying not to attract attention from the other first years.

A few minutes later, McGonagall returned.

"Now, form a line and follow me," she said, leading them out of the chamber and to the Great Hall.

The first years stared in wonder at the floating candles and the bewitched ceiling, whispering to each other in excitement. McGonagall made them line up facing the other students.

There was a loud crash from outside and a bright light, much like a car's headlights, flashed into the Great Hall. With a nod from Dumbledore, Severus swept out of the Great Hall quickly, people talking loudly and in excitement. Dumbledore called for their attention again and everyone watched as McGonagall put the hat on the stool.

Ginny could see Fred and George waving to her with identical grins on their faces. She returned their grin, looking at the other students, her gaze going to the Slytherin table. She saw Draco and Blaise sitting there, talking with Pansy softly. How she wished she could be put in their house instead...

Looking at the back of the tables, Ginny saw Harry and Ron peeking in from the doorway. So they'd made it after all. Damn... She nodded briefly to Fred and George, who both looked to the entrance. They saw Snape appear behind them and watched with glee and Harry and Ron paled, turning around quickly. The door closed and with disappointed sighs, the three siblings turned their attention back to McGonagall.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," McGonagall said, calling the first name off of the scroll.

As the mousey-haired boy went over to the stool nervously, Ginny realised that she had called out his name by the surname first. She was going to be waiting for a _long_ time...

"Creevey, Colin!" McGonagall called out a moment later.

"Good luck," Ginny whispered to him.

Colin grinned at her and went down to the stool, putting the hat on as he sat down.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted after a second.

Neville, Fred and George clapped for him loudly. Ginny joined in, grinning as he sat next to Neville, whispering to him.

"Lovegood, Luna!" McGonagall called after most of the students had been sorted.

"Good luck Luna," Ginny said softly, grinning at her.

Luna gave a smile and went down to the stool. She sat down calmly and put the hat on her head, not bothering to shut her eyes tightly as all of the others had.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled loudly.

Ginny clapped for her; Colin, Neville and her brothers joining in the noise of the other Ravenclaws'.

Now Ginny just had to wait for _her_ turn... She was almost asleep by the time her name was _finally_ called out.

"Weasley, Ginevra!" McGonagall said.

As she was the last person to be sorted, Ginny hurried to the stool, her stomach complaining to her loudly. She put the hat on and sat down quickly.

"Hmm," a small voice said in her ear. "You're going to be a difficult one," the voice murmured.

_Can I go in Gryffindor?_ Ginny asked silently. _My entire family have always been Gryffindors,_ she added quickly.

"You are not your family though, are you?" the hat asked and at that moment, Ginny knew that it knew of her desire to be in Slytherin.

_Just put me in Gryffindor. I can deal with the consequences._

"It is not you that I am worried about..." the hat muttered. "Very well, but you must live up to the qualities that a Gryffindor has. You have them in you, you know," the hat said matter-of-factly.

_I know,_ Ginny said.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted to the Great Hall.

The Gryffindor table burst out with applause. The other houses joined in, just so they could get to their food quicker.

Ginny sat in between Fred and George, both of them congratulating her. Looking up at the Slytherin table, she saw that both Draco and Blaise were clapping lightly, smirking at her. She grinned and blushed slightly, turning her attention to Dumbledore. Her gaze was distracted by a side door opening. Professor Snape entered the room and whispered to Professor McGonagall.

"Enjoy the feast!" Dumbledore called out and the tables filled with food.

Most of the students did exactly that, ignoring the whispers occuring between the Gryffindor and Slytherin Heads. Dumbledore talked with them for a moment. They both nodded curtly and the two Professor's left through the side door.

Albus sat down and looked around at the students with a smile. He caught Ginevra's eye and gave her a smile. She returned it hesitantly, then looked back to her brothers. Albus frowned slightly then looked at his pocket watch and went out the side door, his dinner forgotten.

"I heard that they're getting _expelled_!" someone whispered, sounding excited.

"I can't believe they flew all the way here in a _car_!" another said, just as excited.

"Do you think the rumours are true?" Ginny heard Hermione asked Percy.

Percy flushed slightly. "Who knows? The imaginations of people are limitless..." he said vaguely, shrugging.

The talk continued throughout dinner, until Ginny, her brothers and friends were quite sick of it. Dumbledore came back in the Great Hall with Severus, who looked quite angry, just in time to have seconds of the custard tart.

Ginny left with Colin and Neville, Fred and George following.

"Could you imagine if they did get expelled?" Ginny muttered to them, grinning. "It would be like Christmas all over again," she said with a laugh.

"Their funerals included," Fred and George said with smirks.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

Ginny tried not to gag at the sight of the pink silk dress.

"Wattlebird," she said, having heard it a prefect telling the other first years earlier.

The portrait swung open and they climbed into the Common Room quickly.

"I'll meet you downstairs at eleven thirty," Ginny said to the others quietly. "I'm going upstairs. I don't think I can handle everyone fawning over Potter and Ronnie-kins," she muttered.

"We'll encourage Percy to owl Mother and Father about their little escapade with the flying car... And we should give him a copy of the newspaper to send too..." Fred and George muttered.

Hugging Fred and George, she said goodnight to Neville and Colin, then went upstairs. Changing into her pyjamas, Ginny shut the curtains around her bed and set the alarm on her watch for eleven o'clock.

.-.-.-.

A beeping sound woke Ginny up and she sat up quickly, looking at her watch. She turned the alarm off and quickly checked that her room mates were still asleep.

She looked at each of them in the pale moonlight, realising that she didn't even know their names. They'd come into the dorm late when she was asleep. Introductions could wait until morning...

Ginny got off the bed quietly and put her school robes on. Grabbing the diary, she left the room, closing the door softly so the others wouldn't wake up. Going down to the Common Room just as quietly, Ginny found that Neville, Fred and George were already there waiting for her. Colin came up behind her, grinning.

"Ready?" the twins asked softly.

Neville and Colin nodded silently. Ginny nodded too, then held up the diary as well, knowing they would want to know if she had that too. With nods of approval, the twins indicated for the others to follow them and left the Common Room.

Ginny followed them warily, hoping that the Fat Lady wouldn't be awake. As the portrait closed, Ginny looked behind to see that the portrait was empty. Seeing movement near the portrait, she frowned and hurried over to it, grabbing the person who had followed them.

"Seamus! What are you doing?" Neville hissed at him.

"Where are you all going?" he asked, pulling away from Ginevra's grip and looking at them.

"We're going to get food from the kitchens," Fred and George lied. "Go back inside, Finnigan," they said.

"You're not going to the kitchens! Why would she have a diary?" Seamus asked, indicating to the diary in Ginny's hands.

Neville raised his wand at Seamus, looking to the twins for a moment. They shook their heads and gently put their hands on his arm, making Neville lower his wand.

"You want to know what we're doing, Finnigan?" they hissed at him, moving closer. "What would you say if we said we were going to practice Dark Arts under the tutelage of Voldemort himself?" they asked.

Seamus' eyes lit up slowly and nearly everyone was surprised when he didn't pale or blanch at the Dark Lord's name.

"_Really_? Can I come with you then?" he asked quietly, eagerness in his voice.

"We're going to be late... Come on. If he wimps out half way through then I'm sure there are some memory charms you two can do," Ginny muttered to her brothers.

"Come on then, Finnigan," Fred and George said with a nod to their sister.

They hurried up the corridor, not wanting to be late.

"What's the Room of Requirement?" Ginny asked her brothers softly.

"It's a room that gives you what you require... If you think about something that you need, a door appears and inside is what you wanted..." they replied with shrugs.

"Isn't Filch patrolling tonight?" Neville asked, not nervous, just curious.

"He never does on the first night back. Everyone's too stuffed from over eating to cause any damage to his corridors. It's probably the only night we don't do anything to his _precious_ corridors," Fred and George said smirking at each other.

"Just where _is_ the Room of Requirement?" Colin asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Seventh floor..." the twins replied jovially.

"You mean we have to walk up _seven_ flights of stairs?" Seamus asked.

"We'd get there quicker if we flew, you know," Ginny said grinning at the twins.

Fred and George rolled their eyes and sighed.

"Fine... Give us the ropes," they muttered.

Ginny grinned and pulled three pieces of rope from her pocket. In seconds, the ropes were gone, replaced with brooms.

"I'm not too good at flying..." Neville said nervously.

"It's all right. You can ride with me," Ginny said grinning at him.

"I thought you hadn't flown before? Ron was talking about it last year..." he said with a frown.

"I have flown, thank you! Not that _he_ knows of it," Ginny muttered.

With a nod, Neville got on the broom, Ginny mounting it behind him.

"You can go with me, all right Colin?" Fred said grinning at him.

"Seamus... You're with me," George said with an identical grin.

Colin nodded in relief and mounted the broom awkwardly. Fred climbed on behind him and they rose up into the air, George and Seamus following easily.

Ginny clutched the broom handle and lifted off gently. They rose into the air, Neville holding on to the broom tightly.

"You'll have to relax Neville. If you don't I won't be able to fly and we'll have to walk," Ginny cajoled.

Neville nodded and released his tight hold on the broom. As Ginny gently guided the broom higher into the air, she encouraged Neville to open his eyes and watch where they were going. Soon enough he was whispering for Ginny to go faster, higher. She complied, grinning broadly. They overtook the twins and their passengers easily, stopping at the landing of the seventh floor reluctantly.

"That was fun," Neville said eagerly, his eyes bright.

"You can fly it on the way back if you want," Ginny said with a grin.

Fred, George, Seamus and Colin landed next to them and they returned the brooms to the pieces of rope. Ginevra put them back in her pocket then looked around.

"So where is this room anyway?" she muttered to Fred and George.

"Took you lot long enough," Draco drawled from nearby. "Finnigan followed you, I presume?" he said with a smirk.

A black door was behind him, and even though it was a dark colour, it still managed to stand out from the surrounding doors, bricks and stones.

"Well, come in already," he muttered, going inside.

They walked over to the door and followed Draco inside. In the soft glow emitted from the candles, Ginny saw that Gregory, Vincent, Pansy and Blaise were already inside. Without a sound, the door closed behind them and the candles burned brighter.

"Sit across from us," Draco instructed.

"Where's Luna?" Ginny asked, looking around.

A knock at the door interrupted any answer the Slytherins were going to reply with. Gregory went over and opened the door to reveal Luna with the Patil twins. They walked in, Luna looking annoyed.

"Sorry... They followed me here and wouldn't leave, even when I threatened to hex them," Luna muttered.

"If you're doing stuff about dark magic, then we want in," the Patil twins announced.

"Why don't you just tell the entire wizarding community next time?" Draco said, glaring at the two girls.

Gregory shut the door quickly and sat next to Vincent again.

"Is there anyone _else_ coming or can we get on with this?" Pansy drawled.

"Why do you want to be in on this? You don't look like much," Fred and George muttered to the Patil twins.

"If you can't tell, we're pure-blooded twins," Padma and Parvati replied with glares. "We've heard every story, tale and rumour about the power of twins, especially dark ones. We _want_ that power..." they hissed. "And who are you to say that we don't look like much, Muggle lovers?" they snarled at them.

"Muggle lovers? We love Muggles about as much as the Malfoy's do!" Fred and George replied, glaring at them.

"Reign in your hormones, would you? We don't want little pure-blood babies running around already," Pansy muttered, smirking at the four of them.

There was yet another knock at the door. Not expecting anyone else to arrive, Gregory and Vincent went over to the door and opened it warily.

Millicent growled at them and kicked open the door, her hands currently full. Theodore walked in, held the door open for her and smirked as Millicent dragged in the person she was holding.

"Found him coming up the stairs... He was calling out for them two," she muttered, indicating to Fred and George.

"Lee... What are you doing here?" they hissed at their friend.

"Whatever you're doing, I want in!" Lee Jordan said, glaring at them.

"You wouldn't want this, Lee... Trust us," Fred and George said seriously. "You don't like dark magic, remember?"

"I don't care if it's dark magic," Lee hissed. "I only said that because your family is known for their involvement with the Light and the Order!" he said.

Fred and George moved to him.

"We are **not** our family..."

"I can see that now," Lee said with an approving nod.

"Would the three of you quit your dramatics? We'd like to get this done _before_ the sun rises," Pansy said glaring at them.

All of the Slytherins sat on one side and the Gryffindors sat across from them. Luna and Padma faced each other, Padma sitting next to her twin and Luna next to Millicent.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked and everyone nodded their consent. "Ginevra, the diary if you please," Draco said and she passed the diary across to him.

After writing in it Draco sat upright again and smirked at everyone.

They were sucked into the diary in swirls of colour and some small screaming from the newcomers.

.-.-.-.

"My, my... We have more," Tom drawled with a smirk at them all. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tom Marvolo Riddle. I presume that they will not go running off to the first teacher they see?" he asked Draco and Ginevra in undertones.

"If they do then we will deal with them," Draco said quietly in reply.

"Excellent... As I said, my name is Tom. You will most likely know me better as Lord Voldemort, or to those too weak to say my name, You-Know-Who..."

Padma and Parvati stepped forward and curtsied to him.

"Lord Voldemort... It is a pleasure to finally meet you," they said in unison.

"Delighted. Look at me," he instructed them softly and the twins looked up at him. "You are both very powerful. Just as powerful as Fred and George," he murmured. "You two will do well with them..."

"Yes, Lord Voldemort," they replied.

"Now... You want to learn how to be Slytherins on the inside?" Tom asked, moving back from the Patil twins.

"Yes, Lord Voldemort," was everyone's reply.

"Very well..." Tom said and looked at them seriously. "Take a dagger," he said and seventeen daggers appeared.

They each took one and waited for further instruction.

"Excellent," he said smirking as the daggers disappeared. "I apologise for the test..." he said charmingly, smiling at them. "Now... If you would please say the spell, Draco," Tom said looking to him.

"Yes, my Dark Lord," Draco said with a bow. "_Morsmordre_!" he said, pointing his wand upwards.

The Dark Mark appeared above their heads and they all looked at it in appreciation, awe and wonder.

"Beautiful," Ginevra murmured as she watched the snake move around the skull with ease.

"I want you all to cast your own Dark Mark... It will help you through difficult times. Every time you want to curse someone into oblivion, just think of my mark and it will help calm you," he said. "It will help you control your emotions. Think of it and you will be able to fool anyone, even Dumbledore and Potter," Tom said. "Now cast your spells..."

Ginevra smirked and pointed her wand upwards.

"_Morsmordre_!" she said and a bright green skull and snake appeared.

Fifteen other Dark Marks appeared, shining just as brightly as the first two that were cast.

"Excellent... You will all be powerful additions to my campaign," Tom said, his eyes flashing red. "Now you know about Unforgivables, I presume?" he asked.

They all nodded at his question and waited for him to continue.

"You know the spells for them then?"

"Unfortunately, we do not. They refuse to teach us the spells and the books in the library, even in the Restricted Section, are limited in reference to the Unforgivables," Fred and George responded, sounding more than disappointed.

"Understandable, yet it is very annoying..." Tom muttered. "Very well. I will teach you them myself. Perhaps only one for tonight, as I am sure that other students will be suspicious if you are not well rested on your first night back to Hogwarts," he mused. "As I have already taught you about the Imperius spell, I will now teach you about the Cruciatus Curse," he said. "To put it simply, this spell tortures the person it is directed at," he said, his eyes glancing at Neville briefly before returning to the others. "Every single part of their body is filled with pain so excruciating that they will wish for nothing more than the bliss of death... They will writhe and scream as their minds are brought to the brink of its sanity. In some cases, if the person is left under the spell for too long, then they will lose their sanity..." he said.

Neville's face grew stern and hard as he clenched his fist. As he thought of the Dark Mark, his fists slowly uncurled and his face lost its uncharacteristic look. He was only doing this to help his parents... He was learning Dark Arts so he could learn if there was a reverse spell that would help his parents... He was joining with Voldemort so he could kill Bellatrix.

"Watch carefully," Tom instructed, pointing his wand at Blaise. "_Crucio_!" he said.

Blaise jerked as the spell hit him. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his body twitched and jerked in pain. Pain filled every inch of his body and mind and as the emotion enveloped him, he fell to the floor, writhing.

Tom took the spell off and Blaise stood up shakily. He leant against Draco, breathing heavily.

"Was it like I said?" Tom asked.

"That and more..." Blaise replied heavily.

Ginevra saw the look in both Tom and Blaise's eyes and wanted to feel the same thing.

"Can you do the spell on me?" she asked, stepping forward.

Fred and George went to grab her, but it was too late. Tom had already put the spell on her and Ginevra was wrtithing on the floor.

Pain flooded her mind and she revelled in it. The new piercing emotion she had never been allowed to feel before... Her body tingled with pain and as she felt like she could take no more, her mind opened up to let more pain through. The wanted emotion swirled through her, even as her mind and body resisted against it.

Tom took the spell off of Ginevra and she sat up slowly, her eyes wide with the headiness of the powerful pain she had just experienced.

"Can I really do _that_ to someone?" she asked, licking her lips.

"If you have enough will power, then you can do anything you want..." Tom replied.

Ginevra's eyes gleamed with eagerness and she stood up, pointing her wand at the others.

"_Crucio_!" she said and George fell to the floor, writhing in pain.

After a few moments of watching her brother being tormented with cold eyes, Ginevra took the spell off of him. George sat up and looked at her with a minute nod, understanding why she had put him under the spell.

"_Crucio_!" he said, pointing his wand at his twin.

Fred writhed and screamed silently as pain filled his body. As the spell was taken off, he cursed Lee with the same spell. The three siblings watching with bright, yet cold eyes as he too was filled with pain.

It went on for the next half hour, each of them being cursed and then cursing another. As Neville stood up shaking, he looked at Tom, his wand twirling around his fingers. Giving a nod, Tom allowed him to hex him.

"_Crucio_!" Neville said, thinking of Bellatrix.

He would do this to her... He would put her through the same pain that she'd put his parents through. He would drive _her_ insane and watch as her mind broke into millions of pieces...

Neville took the spell off Tom and watched as he stood up slowly, panting for breath.

"Very good, Neville... I am proud of you all," he said, smiling at them all. "You should leave now before you are too tired to attend classes in the morning. You will be of no use to me if you are not smart enough to even defeat the weaklings attending this school..." he said stonily.

"Of course," they responded, bowing to him.

"Ginevra... You will need a teacher's signature to retrieve a book from the Restricted Section. Talk to me when you have it," Tom instructed quietly.

"Yes," Ginevra replied.

Tom nodded, satisfied. With a wave of his hand, they all disappeared with a swirl of dark colours.

.-.-.-.

They all came out of Tom's diary bright-eyed and revelling in the power that they had just used and created; the power they craved. It was all around them. It flowed through everything and it was a part of them. It was a part of everything, and so were they.

Dazed and intoxicated by the power, Ginevra grabbed the diary and left the Room of Requirement quickly. Knowing that the others were following her, she practically flew down the staircases, even right past Filch's office. He wouldn't hear them. They were inside the magic and he was just a useless Squib...

The doors opened as they approached, the bars across the door opened as easily and silently as if they had only been put on the day before...

Stepping outside, Ginevra looked around in wonder and awe... The night was _beautiful_. Everything glowed in the brilliance of the moon and surrounding stars. Everything was draped in a silver light, distorting the colours of the day into the colours of the night. It was wonderful and beautiful.

As she heard the others around her gasp, Ginevra knew that they were feeling and seeing the same as she was...

The power inside them burst free and flowed through the night. Power flowed through everything and back into them. It was an endless flow and movement of magic... Everything it touched glowed with the power of the night.

Ginevra began to laugh uncontrollably as the night's power kept flowing around and through and over and back again...

The night washed over everyone and they all laughed, feeling free and intoxicated with the heady and mesmirising scent of the night's pure power...

.-.-.-.

After seconds, minutes, maybe even hours of watching the night's power flowing through them and everything surrounding them, the group of seventeen headed back inside and parted ways.

Even though she was feeling too wired to sleep, Ginny went with the other six Gryffindors back to the Fat Lady Portrait. The Fat Lady still hadn't returned, not that they cared...

Sitting in the Common Room with the others, Ginny wished that the Gryffindor colours weren't so bright and cheerful... It was disgusting. She wanted them to be dark colours. Black, green, even dark blue would be acceptable! Anything but the horribly bright red and shiny gold!

Fred and George sat on either side of her, taking her hands in their own.

"You should get some sleep now," they said to her quietly.

"Everything's so bright... How can we sleep?" Neville muttered, looking at the colours surrounding them.

"I really hate this red," Colin muttered, glaring at the red things surrounding them.

Ginevra nodded in agreement, as did Lee, Parvati and Neville.

"If we don't get to sleep then they'll become suspicious... We can't use the flying car as an excuse for being awake all night," Fred and George said.

"I suppose you're both right. Maybe when we get to bed then we'll fall asleep within seconds," Ginevra said with a sigh.

"Think of the Dark Mark and it will calm you down enough for you to fall asleep," Fred and George instructed.

They kissed Ginevra goodnight and went up the tower to their dormitory with Lee beside them. Neville sighed.

"I probably won't fall asleep, no matter what I think of... Ron snores like the Hogwarts Express," he muttered to Ginevra.

"Why don't you just put up a silencing spell?" Parvati said with a yawn.

"Didn't think of it," Neville said grinning. "I better get back up there before one of them wakes up... See you all in the morning," he said and went up the tower staircase.

"I should go before Lavender finds out that I'm not there... For someone who insists on getting her _beauty sleep_, she really likes to talk at night," Parvati muttered.

"Bye Parvati. See you tomorrow," Ginevra said and watched as she went up to the girls dormitory.

"We should probably go too," Colin said reluctantly, yawning widely.

Ginny nodded in agreement and they both headed up to their dormitories as well.

After getting dressed quietly, Ginevra slipped the diary under her pillow and shut the curtains around her bed, glad for such luxuries that she never had at the Burrow.

As she drifted off into a reluctant sleep, Ginevra dreamt of the Dark Mark, Tom and the power that she would have soon have access to...

.-.-.-.

(a/n: _End of second chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_)

.-.-.-.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter! Don't sue me!

(a/n: _Sorry for not updating anything in a while! Thanks for being patient!_

_There are now eight chapters on my Live Journal. It will be updated soon on there, promise!_)

.-.-.-.

Chapter Three

Ginny woke up and stilled for a moment, not recognising where she was. Remembering that she was at Hogwarts, she gave a sigh of relief then sat up with a yawn.

Not wanting to wake the other girls, Ginevra changed quietly and brushed her hair. As she left the room with her bag, she heard one of the girls waking up and slammed the door shut, the others waking up with starts and screams.

"Stupid bints," she muttered, going down to the Common Room with a satisfied smirk.

Neville was already there with Colin. They were talking animatedly and Ginevra was positive that she'd heard the word 'dark' in their conversation.

"I hope you're not discussing things that shouldn't be heard by innocent ears," she said quietly, coming up behind them.

"No, actually... We're discussing what an idiot that Lockhart guy is," Neville said grinning at her.

"And we're trying to figure out a way to annoy the hell out of Harry," Colin added softer, smirking.

"That's easy... Follow him around and use your lovely camera to take as many photos of him as possible. He'll try to kill you within the week," Ginny muttered. "He hates it when people pay attention to him," she said, remembering how he avoided her during the holidays.

"You'll have to learn as much as you can about him first... We can make you into a groupie," Neville said, laughing.

Colin shuddered and shook his head.

"All right... If he tries to kill me I'm going to hex you both into oblivion when I learn the proper curses," Colin muttered.

"Deal... Come on, we better go to the Great Hall before anyone comes down," Ginny said and they left the Gryffindor Common Room quickly.

.-.-.-.

They sat together, telling Colin _everything_ about Harry Potter. If anyone else had listened in closely enough, they might have noticed the tone they were using _wasn't_ one of awe...

After about ten minutes of telling him everything they knew, Hermione walked in, her nose stuck in _Voyages with Vampires_. She propped it up against a milk jug, absent mindedly taking a piece of toast and eating it, her eyes eagerly taking in the words on the book.

Neville sighed and said goodbye to them, going over to Hermione. He didn't bother saying anything, knowing that she wouldn't respond and just sat down beside her, forcing a cheery smile on his face.

No more than three minutes later, Ron and Harry walked in and sat next to Hermione.

"Morning," Hermione responded stiffly and Neville knew that she was still annoyed with them.

This brightened his day considerably. Maybe the Golden Trio would break up into little pieces!

"Hi Harry!" he said with a bit too much enthusiasm.

Either they didn't notice, or they just assumed that it was part of his nature. They knew _nothing_ about his nature!

"Post's due any minute - I think Gran's sending on a few things I forgot," Neville said.

He'd purposely sent some of his own things to himself from his house yesterday to keep up his facade of being forgetful.

The two boys didn't reply. They didn't even acknowledge that he was there! Disgruntled, he was about to move when he heard the rush of wings overhead. Looking up, he saw Errol and abruptly changed his mind about moving when he recognised what was in his talons. He _had_ to see Ron's face up close and personal for **this**!

His own lumpy parcel hit him in the head and Neville cursed at his owl inwardly, then returned his attention to see the Howler fall into the milk jug. He was sprayed with milk and feathers, but it would definitely be worth it!

"Errol!" Ron exclaimed, pulling out both the soggy owl and envelope out of the milk jug.

Neville tried not to laugh when he saw that Errol was unconscious.

"Oh no -" Ron gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive," Hermione said, prodding Errol with her finger.

Neville rolled his eyes discreetly. For a bookworm, Granger sure was _dumb_!

"It's not that - it's _that_," he said, pointing at the red envelope.

Mimicking Ron's pathetically frightened look, Neville realised that Harry noticed his face and turned it into a proper fearful face instead...

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"She's - she's sent me a Howler," Ron said faintly.

Realising that he wasn't going to open it without a definite nudge, Neville made his face look even more frightened and his voice small.

"You'd better open it, Ron," he said in a timid whisper. "It'll be worse if you don't. My Gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and -" he gulped theatrically, "it was horrible."

Neville was trying not to laugh as Harry looked from their faces to the red envelope.

"What's a Howler?" Harry asked.

Neville rolled his eyes but luckily no one saw. Seeing that Ron was still contemplating the Howler, he decided a more direct nudge...

"Open it," he urgred. "It'll be over in a few minutes..."

Ron _finally_ stretched out his shaking hand and took the envelope from Errol's beak. As he slit it open, Neville shoved his fingers in his ears and tried to make it seem like he was nervous and scared instead of wanting to laugh at the idiotic expressions they were pulling.

"_... STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT HAD GONE ..._"

This was even better than Neville had imagined! Looking down the table, he saw Ginny and Colin shaking with uncontrollable laughter. People were turning to look and Ron sank so far down that only the top of his embarrassed head could be seen... Nevile really hoped that Colin was getting pictures of this!

"_... LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED ..._"

Neville looked at Harry and saw that he was looking guilty. Harry looked away from the red envelope and pretended as if he couldn't hear Molly's screams. An impossibility, even for a deaf person!

"_... ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME._"

Silence fell around them and the Howler burst into flames, curling into ashes. Neville took his hands off his ears and laughed quietly with the other people in the Great Hall. Ron and Harry just sat there, looking completely stunned.

Hermione shut her book and looked down at Ron.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you -"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," Ron snapped.

Neville smirked inwardly as Harry pushed his porridge away, looking more guilty than before.

"Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall said, handing him his timetable.

"Thank you," he stammered, as was expected.

Without saying goodbye to the trio, he went down to where Ginevra and Colin were sitting.

"What have you got?" he asked, sitting beside them.

"Double Transfiguration with the Slytherins... You?" Ginevra asked.

"Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs," Neville said. "Stupid idiots always end up ruining the lesson," he muttered.

"Ron's wand is broken," Colin muttered, indicating over to the wand that he was trying to Spellotape together.

"I can't wait to see what he screws up with it... Maybe I should tell Mother dearest that her son broke his wand along with losing the car," Ginevra said smirking evilly.

"I better head off to the Greenhouses... I'll tell you what happens with Potter," Neville said, leaving quickly after the trio.

"We should go too... Can't be late for our first lesson with our Head of House, now can we?" Ginny muttered and she left with Colin.

.-.-.-.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," McGonagall announced, looking around at the first years. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned," she said sternly.

Then in a move that completely destroyed her stern speech, she changed her desk into a pig and back again.

With a very small smile that certainly didn't reach her eyes, McGonagall turned her back to the enthusiastic students and started writing notes up on the board for them to copy down.

After about half an hour of copying down the complicated notes, they were each given a matchstick and instructed to turn it into a needle.

Looking from the notes to the matchstick, Ginny sighed and followed the instructions she'd written carefully. Nothing happened. After trying another six times, Ginevra got annoyed and calmed her emotions down, thinking of the Dark Mark. Seeing that she was annoyed, Colin looked at her match and notes.

"You missed a step," he muttered quietly.

"What? Oh, you're kidding me," Ginny muttered, seeing that she had indeed, missed a step.

Muttering about it, she redid the spell and watched as her match thinned out, went pointy and turned to a bright silver colour. Colin congratulated her, but Ginny quietened him as McGonagall came over. Ginevra quickly made the needle the same size as the match had been and not as pointy.

"Excellent work, Miss Weasley... See how Miss Weasley has made her match silver and pointy? If you could get it a bit thinner then it would be perfect. Five points to Gryffindor," she said, giving her a thin smile.

The bell rang and they left to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

.-.-.-.

"Why did you make it thicker?" Colin asked.

"I don't want her bragging to Ron and the others about how I transfigured the needle," she muttered. "He'll get annoyed at how _he_ couldn't do it. And if he finds out, then he's going to compare me to Granger and I think I just may have to kill him..." Ginevra muttered with a disgusted shudder.

"If you do kill him, I'll provide an alibi," Colin said cheerfully as they went into the classroom.

They sat near the back and set their books up on their desks. Everyone watched as Gilderoy Lockhart swept into the classroom, smiling at them, his white teeth shining brightly in the sunlight.

"Gods... I think I might have to kill them both," Ginny muttered.

Gilderoy picked up a student's book and pointed to the portrait of himself.

"Me... Gildeory Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most-Charming-Smile Award - but I don't like to talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by _smiling_ at her!" he said looking at them, expecting laughs.

Ginny laughed under her breath. Hogwarts was actually _paying_ this idiot? And they still expected them to _learn_ from him? This was going to be bloody hilarious!

"I see that you've all bought a complete set of my books - well done," Gilderoy said.

_They were on the booklist, of course we bought them, you idiot_! Ginny thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"I thought that we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about - just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in ..." he said with another smile, noticing the alarm on their faces.

He handed out the test papers and went back to the front of the class.

"You have thirty minutes... Start - now!" he said and they looked at their papers.

_1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?_

_2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_3. What, in your opinion, is Gildeory Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

"What kind of questions are these?" Ginny muttered in disgust. Turning over the paper to the end, she looked at the last question.

_54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

"By the Gods... He really expects us to waste our ink and time on this shit?" Ginny muttered to Colin.

"I have no idea what the answers are..." Colin muttered.

"Hide your spare quills," Ginny murmured, shoving all of her quills in her bag discreetly.

She put her hand up and watched as Lockhart smiled at her, walking over. Pompous, vain git...

"Yes, loung lady?" he asked charmingly, but all it did was make Ginny feel ill.

"I lost my quills! They're new and I don't know where they are! My mother is such a big fan of yours and she will be _so_ disappointed if I don't do this quiz!" Ginny said with a sob.

"Your mother is a fan of mine, eh? Here you go, give her a picture from me," he said quietly with a rougish wink, handing her a signed photograph of himself.

Ginny almost threw up in disgust.

"I should have a quill somewhere that you can borrow," he said clearly, going to his desk and getting out a large brightly coloured peacock quill.

As he handed it to Ginny, she sneezed loudly, red dots appearing on her face.

"Oh dear... You seem to be allergic to peacock feathers," he said in dismay, moving the quill away from her quickly. "Luckily I know the countercurse for allergies," Lockhart said grinning at her.

"It's all right, Professor! I'll go down to the hospital wing. That way I can send the photo you gave me without the others seeing," Ginny added quietly.

"Excellent idea! You there... Take this young lady down to the hospital wing, pronto!" Lockhart said to Colin.

"Yes, Professor," Colin said. "I should stay with her in case something else happens," he added, giving Lockhart the blank test.

"Of... of course," Lockhart said.

Another hand went up and he went to the admiring fan, immediately dismissing the two students.

Ginny and Colin quickly packed the rest of their things and left the classroom. As they went into the Room of Requirement, Ginny spat out the Allergy Aniseeds with a grimace.

"I _hate_ aniseeds, but that was an emergency..." she muttered shaking her head.

Taking Lockhart's signed photo out of her bag, she tapped her wand to it, using a spell that Fred and George had taught her during the holidays. His signature left the photo and she transferred it onto a piece of parchment.

"Gods, that man is so vain!" Colin said shaking his head.

"At least he's as dumb as he is vain, or else we wouldn't have been able to get his signature..." she muttered.

Taking the diary out of her bag, Ginevra and wrote to Tom in it.

_Hello again, Ginevra.. You have the signature already?_ Tom asked.

'Yes... We have a very vain teacher who will give out signed photographs if you mention that your mother is a fan of his,' Ginevra replied, her disgust evident even in her written words.

_Excellent work, Ginevra. The book you will need is _Moste Potente Potions_. The library should still have it, even after fifty years,_ Tom mused. _When everyone is with you and you have the book, I will talk to you within the diary,_ he instructed.

'Yes, Tom... I look forward to it,' Ginny wrote.

Colin wrote the name of the book on the parchment and they went down to the library. Showing the note to Madam Pince, she looked at it, then them suspiciously.

"You really want _Moste Potente Potions_?" she asked.

"Yes please, Madam Pince," Ginny replied innocently.

"Very well," Pince muttered and left to get the large and mouldy book.

Ginny put it in her bag and they left the library, not a hint of guilt on their faces.

.-.-.-.

"We got to go into Greenhouse Three for Herbology... I couldn't get in the trio's group, Finch-Fletchley got there before me," Neville said with a glare and frown. "But, I was listening in on Lockhart talking to Harry... It was hilarious! Lockhart thinks that Potter's got the _fame bug _because he flew the car into Hogwarts," he said with a low laugh.

"I can use that to my advantage," Colin said, holding his camera fondly. "_Mr. Potter, can I get your photo_?"

"_Can I lick Mr. Potter's shoes for him while I bow to Mr. Potter_?" Ginny muttered in a sarcastic voice.

"Actually... Colin, you _could_ ask for him to sign the photograph... I can get Lochart here in seconds if he thinks that someone's giving out signed photographs without him," Neville said with a laugh.

"That's a good idea, Neville," Ginevra said grinning at him. "I'll get Malfoy to make a comment about it so Potter looks like an attention seeker in front of the whole school," she said.

"They're going outside," Colin said.

"Probably going to the courtyard, as usual," Neville said. "You follow them and we'll do our bit," he said with a wink.

Colin nodded and hurried out of the Great Hall. Neville followed after him and headed down to Lockhart's office. Ginevra went over to the Slytherin table, bumping into Draco as she walked past.

"You had better apologise for that, Weaselette," he said sternly, glaring at her.

"Sorry! I just heard that Harry was giving out signed photographs and I wanted to get one before everyone else did!" Ginny said with a small wink, hurrying out of the Great Hall.

Ginevra arrived in the courtyard just in time to see Colin tentatively step forward, his face bright red.

"All right, Harry? I'm - I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly; out of breath from running after them, not in awe as so many presumed. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think - would it be all right if," he stammered. "Can I have a picture?" he asked, raising his camera slightly so he would get the point.

"A picture?" Harry echoed blankly.

Colin refrained from hitting him on the head with his camera to get the point across and smiled broadly, looking as eager as possible.

"So I can prove I've met you," he said, moving further forwards. He was nearly close enough to hit the idiot... "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You Know Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead," he said, looking at Harry's hairline for the scar, "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll _move._"

Ginny motioned to him to continue talking. Colin drew in a deep breath so he could continue, acting as if he was overly excited about the potion for the pictures.

"It's _brilliant_ here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him."

He was just rambling by this point and almost sighed in relief when he saw Ginevra nodding to him to wind it down... _Draco must be coming_, Colin mused, as he was facing the only way Lockhart could come from his office.

"Maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?" Colin asked, his voice raised slightly in case no one heard it, but Harry just mistook it for excitement and awe.

"_Signed photos?_ You're giving out _signed photos_, Potter?" Draco asked, his voice loud and scathing as it echoed through the courtyard. He stopped behind Colin, Crabbe and Goyle behind him. "Everyone queue up!" he yelled to the surrounding students. "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!" he called.

Ginevra had to clamp her hands over her mouth to stop from laughing and drawing attention to herself. People were actually moving closer to Harry!

"No, I'm not," Harry said angrily, his fists clenching. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You're just jealous!" Colin piped up with a tiny grin.

"_Jealous?_ Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

Gregory and Vincent sniggered, taking the attention away from Colin, who was shaking with laughter.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy," Ron said angrily.

_That's the best he can come up with?_ Ginny thought to herself, shaking her head in disappointment.

Vincent stopped laughing and rubbed his knuckles menacingly, glaring at Ron.

"Be careful, Weasley," Draco sneered. "You don't want to start any trouble or your mummy'll have to come and take you away from school. _If you put another toe out of line_ - " he said in a shrill, piercing voice.

Ginevra laughed with the group of fifth year Slytherins nearby.

"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter. It'd be worth more than his family's whole house," Malfoy said, smirking.

Ron pulled out his Spellotaped wand and Ginny scoffed under her breath. _He _really_ thinks he can hurt anyone _other_ than himself with that pathetic excuse for a wand?_

Hermione shut _Voyages with Vampires _with a snap and whispered something to Ron.

"What's all this, what's all this?" Lockhart asked, striding towards them all, his turquoise robes swirling out behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

Neville stood beside Ginevra, smirking broadly.

"Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!" Lockhart thundered jovially.

Neville and Ginevra laughed silently, shaking with the effort of not doing so out loud.

Malfoy smirked at Harry's red face once more before sliding back into the crowd.

"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," Lockhart said, beaming at him. "A double portrait, can't say fairer than that, and we'll _both_ sign it for you."

Colin fumbled with his camera, wishing that the bell would ring so he wouldn't have to waste film on these two idiots. Unfortuantely, he had no such luck and took the picture just as the bell rang.

"Off you go, move along there," Lockhart called to everyone, going back to the castle with Harry still by his side.

"Such a lovely couple, don't you think?" Ginevra asked smirking at them.

"I'll go after them so I can get more stuff to embarrass Potter," Neville muttered with a grin, hurrying after the _celebrities_.

-.-.-.-

Ginevra watched as Flitwick stood on a pile of books to see over his table. Despite the fact that he looked comical, she knew that he would be a good teacher. Fred and George had told her about Flitwick's past, especially about the fact that he had been a duelling champion as a younger boy. The amount of spells he must know!

Both Ginevra and Colin listened to him eagerly, their minds soaking in every piece of information that he gave them. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be doing any of the charms he mentioned until later in the week, but that didn't mean that it still wasn't interesting to hear what _Wingardium Leviosa_ did and the proper wand movements for it...

The next lesson was History of Magic with Professor Binns. Although the lesson sounded interesting, Ginny knew from tales that the only things it was good for were catching up on much needed sleep, pranking classmates and creating new inventions...

Ginevra and Colin both forced themselves to write down everything that Binns was telling them, pinching each other when they'd started to drowse.

After twenty minutes and two bruised arms, Ginevra and Colin started quietly practising the charm that Flitwick had talked about; _Wingardium Leviosa_.

Colin managed to lift a quill into the air and she had to quickly grab it out of the air before Binns saw it. Even if they were at the back of the classroom, the Hogwarts teachers had a cunning ability to spot mischief in their lessons...

Luckily, Binns was still droning on about Uric the Oddball and didn't notice a thing. They continued to practise the spell, this time leaving the quill on the floor so it wouldn't raise up as high.

When they'd both managed to control the quill properly and make it fly to the heights they wanted, Ginny and Colin stopped practising and wrote to Tom instead...

After the tedious lesson, Ginevra and Colin managed to drag themselves to the Room of Requirement.

Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Millicent, Theodore, Gregory, Vincent, Parvati, Seamus and Neville were already inside. Neville was muttering something about Lockhart, Pansy laughing at him.

"It wasn't that bad! You should have seen Potter's face when those pixies lifted you onto the candelabra! It was hilarious!" Pansy said, still laughing.

"And it bloody well hurt when I fell, that's for sure!" Neville muttered, rubbing his backside painfully.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Ginevra asked, sitting beside Neville.

"Defence Against Gilderoy Lockhart," Neville said, laughing dryly at his own joke.

"What _is_ that mouldy thing in your bag?" Parvati asked, seeing the book cover of _Moste Potente Potions_ in Ginevra's bag.

"It's a book from the Restricted Section," she replied, pulling it out. "Tom wanted me to get it... When everyone's here, then we'll go into the diary and he'll explain what we need the book for," Ginevra said.

"Well, we can look at it until then... No point in letting a Restricted Book sit there without anyone reading it," Draco said, pulling the book to him.

Flipping the pages, he murmured a few of the potion titles, stopping at the more gruesome pictures.

"Is that man _inside_ out?" Millicent muttered, blinking in shock.

"I would believe so... I'm more interested in this woman with the arms coming out of her head..." Draco said smirking.

"They're _really_ inside out? How do you do that?" Ginny asked eagerly, hurrying over to look. "That looks painful," she said, indicating to another picture where someone's skin was bubbling like a potion.

"No, really?" Draco drawled sarcastically.

A knock at the door stopped Ginevra's response. Blaise opened the door and Fred and George walked in, Lee behind them.

Seconds later there was another knock, Luna and Padma walking inside, talking quietly.

They all sat across from each other silently, Lee facing down the row they were making. Ginevra wrote in the diary and they were all sucked into it, colours swirling around them.

-.-.-.-

"Welcome back," Tom said charmingly, smiling at them all. "Ah, I see you brought the book!" he said, looking at the potion book fondly.

"What do we need it for?" Fred and George asked curiously.

Tom took the offered book from Ginevra, then flipped to a page near the end of the book. The ease in which he used showed that he had used the book a lot as a student...

"Here we are... _Occult Mynd Potion._ It means _hidden mind_, yet the potion is the opposite. It _reveals_ the mind instead of hiding it. If you all drink the potion at the same time then you will have access to each other's minds and thoughts. However, you will need to put a part of each other inside the potion. Hair will be fine," he added at their looks.

"How long does the potion take?" Pansy asked with a frown.

"About half a year... But it will be worth it," he said.

"What ingredients do we need? I doubt they'd all be in the student's cupboard," Vincent said.

"Indeed... Some of them will be required from Knockturn Alley as I doubt that even Severus will have some of these ingredients. There are only so many things you can get with a teacher's permit," Tom said.

"We'll go to Knocturn Alley!" Fred and George volunteered immediately.

"Just because you think you can walk down the streets in Knockturn Alley, it does not mean that you know the best suppliers or the best prices for these ingredients," Tom said sternly. "Lucius has been teaching Draco everything that he knows about such things, so he shall accompany both of you. Learn from him," he said.

"Yes, Lord Voldemort," Fred and George replied with small bows.

"Ginevra... You have the task of writing out this potion. It will not do for others to see the book you have, and much less the potion you are copying," Tom said, looking at her. "Transfigurations will not work on this book, and I very _strongly_ suggest that you do not try it," he added, rubbing his ear with a small grimace. "Now... Do any of you know about the Chamber of Secrets?" he asked, looking at them.

He was met with a few blank stares, some eager ones and Draco's trying-not-to-seem-too-interested-face...

"Padma, perhaps you can tell them. I presume you've read _Hogwarts: a history_?" Tom asked with a charming smile.

"Of course," she replied. "The Chamber of Secrets is a supposedly non existent area in Hogwarts. It is said that Salazar Slytherin himself built the Chamber but supposedly, none of the other founders knew about it. Salazar left Hogwarts after an argument he'd had with Godric Gryffindor over the selection of non-magically born students... There is believed to be some sort of monster inside the Chamber, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control," Padma finished.

"Is it true? Is there really a monster?" Colin asked eagerly.

"The creature inside the Chamber is _not_ a monster. It is a Basilisk," Tom replied.

"You've been inside the Chamber of Secrets?" Theodore asked.

"As the heir of Salazar Slytherin, it is expected," Tom said with a smirk.

"Will you teach us how to get there?" Ginevra asked.

"It is not something that can be taught. At least, not in the short amount of time that is needed for my plan to work," Tom said, sounding apologetic. "You should all return now. It is probably time for your feast," he said. "I will talk to you again tomorrow," he added and with a wave of his hand, they all disappeared.

.-.-.-.

Ginny put the potion book into her bag along with the diary and followed the others out of the Room of Requirement. They went their separate ways with only a quick goodbye.

"This is a copy of our timetable," Neville said to Colin, handing him a piece of parchment.

"What's that for?" Seamus asked.

"So I can follow Potter around and constantly ask him for a photograph," Colin replied with a smirk. "I still can't believe I had to waste a photo on him with that idiot Lockhart," he muttered in disgust.

"You should develop it and ask him to sign it," Ginny said with a laugh.

"He'd _hate_ that," Parvati said with a nod.

They walked into the Great Hall for dinner and sat down near each other, but not so close as to get anyone suspicious. Seamus sat with Dean and started to argue about Qudditch and soccer. Across from them, Neville sat near the Golden Trio to listen on to what they were saying.

Parvati sat next to Lavender reluctantly, and forced herself to look enthusiastic as Lavender went on about the latest make-up tips in _Witch's Weekly_.

Colin and Ginevra sat further down the table on the side next to the Ravenclaw table and talked with Luna. Padma sat across from them, giving her sister sympathetic looks every so often.

Fred and George sat with the Trio, making snide remarks about them to Neville.

.-.-.-.

Dinner finished without any incidents, unfortunately. Ginevra kept hoping that Ron would choke on a chicken bone, but she had no such luck. Instead, he managed to beat his personal record and ate **ten** chicken legs in the one night.

Disgusted and her own appetite disappearing quickly, Ginevra stopped watching her brother and left the Great Hall with Colin and Neville as soon as the first few people started to leave. They went straight to the Common Room and talked amongst themselves quietly. Lee, Fred and George joined them soon after; Parvati was able to escape from Lavender's beauty tips long enough to talk with them. Their talk was interrupted when the Golden Trio walked in, looking smug as usual, the group of seven watching them in disgust.

"I'm going to bed before I hex him," she muttered in the Gryffindor Common Room when Ron started to brag about his dinner victory.

"Good idea," Neville seconded in disgust.

"See you in the morning," Fred and George said quietly, then went over to their brother and started to tease him about being a bottomless pit.

"Lavender's realising that she's not talking to someone," Colin whispered to Parvati, who seemed to magically appear beside Lavender, smiling and offering her own beauty tips.

"See you tomorrow," Ginevra said to Colin and Neville, leaving quickly before Ron could call for her to defend him...

"I might go too before Potter tries to hide behind Granger again," Colin said with a smirk, going up to the boy's dorm.

Neville smirked as Ron pouted and folded his arms at his brothers' teasing. With a shake of his head at how _immature _he was, Neville went up to the dorm and fell asleep thinking of the ways he could get his revenge on Bellatrix...

-.-.-.-

(a/n: _End of third chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_)

-.-.-.-


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter! Don't sue me!

Chapter Four

Ginevra walked around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, looking between the trees eagerly. She could practically see the forest's power. It was filled with more magic and power than every witch and wizard in the entire wizarding world.

"'Ello there," Hagrid said, stopping her gently before she ran into his large body. "Yer the youngest Weasley, aren't yer?" he asked, recognising her hair.

"I'm Ginny," she replied sweetly, smiling up at him.

"Nice ter meet yer," Hagrid said. "What are yer doing wanderin' 'round here?" he asked.

"I'm just looking at the grounds," she replied truthfully.

"Yer seen yer brother n' Harry lately then?" he asked with a grin.

Ginny almost grounded her teeth. _Another_ person assumed that she liked Harry _bloody_ Potter!

"No, I haven't actually," she replied forcefully. "Is that an Engorgement Charm?" she asked, looking at the pumpkins, eager to change the subject.

"Yes," Hagrid said, his eyes darting to the pink umbrella leaning against his hut.

"It's impressive," Ginny said.

"Thank yer! I'm quite proud o' them meself... They should be big enough for the Halloween feast," he said proudly.

"Indeed," Ginny muttered. "I should go now... It's almost time for dinner," she said, giving him a big smile before heading off to the castle.

.-.-.-.

Far too early for their liking, both Fred and George woke up grumpily on Saturday morning as Oliver shook them.

"Come on, you two! Get up!" he said, far too chirpy and cheerful for the early hour of the morning.

"It's Saturday... Bugger off," they muttered.

"Quidditch practice!" Oliver replied immediately, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Come on!"

George sat up reluctantly, if only to get Wood out of the room.

"We're up... Better go get Harry," Fred murmured.

"I'll meet you at the Quidditch Pitch in ten minutes," he said with one more glance to make sure that they were getting up before leaving to Harry's dormitory.

Fred opened one eye sleepily and looked at George with a yawn.

"I'll get Colin," Fred said reluctantly, both of them knowing that if he didn't get up now then he wouldn't until a _normal_ hour of the day.

"I'll get our robes and brooms," George said with a nod, rubbing his face.

They got off the bed and changed surprisingly quickly, considering how tired they were. They made their bed just as swiftly before Fred left the room quietly. As George opened their trunk and rummaged for their Quidditch robes, he thought of the shock their room mates had first had when they'd found out that he and Fred slept in the same bed.

They'd teased them about incest at first, but the twins had ignored them and had made steadfast friends with Lee, the only one who hadn't said anything against them. Over time, the others had just accepted the fact that they slept in the same bed, probably assuming it had been a joke they'd continued to annoy them. The fact of the matter was that Fred and George had never been separated at night. From their conception in their Mother's womb they'd been side by side and they would be until the day they died...

They slept facing each other, their foreheads touching and hands held in the other's. Even when Ginevra had nightmares and begged to sleep with them, Fred and George had still held hands and managed to have their foreheads touching. Ginevra had understood their connection, even as a young child and had always moved down so they could continue to stay together...

George found their Quidditch robes and got their brooms out. He looked up to see his twin looking at him, his eyes full of the same lust that filled his own eyes.

"If you continue to think of me like that, I may start to think that you care about me, brother dearest," Fred murmured.

George blushed. "Of course I care about you, dearest brother... How could you think otherwise?"

He walked over to his twin, handing him his robes and broom. Fred touched George's lips with his own, whispering his thanks. They both pulled away, looking into identical faces. Without a word, they walked into the corridor and leant against the wall with sighs.

"Tom said that the Parvati twins would be good with us. Do you think they are the same as us?" George asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer being 'no'.

"I think they may be... It must be difficult for them to be apart for so long," Fred mused.

"Hey guys," Colin said sleepily from the staircase.

"Hi Colin. You're going to have to be more energetic than that," George said with a grin.

"Did you get the photo developed?" Fred asked.

"Of course," Colin said, pulling out the photograph, eager and not as tired now.

"Very nice workmanship," Fred and George said, watching as Lockhart finally pulled Harry into the frame.

"Thanks," he said with a grin.

"We should get down there now... Oliver's bound to complain if we're late," they muttered.

Fred and George went downstairs, quickly saying goodbye to Colin and hurrying down to the Quidditch Pitch.

.-.-.-.

Colin sighed in annoyance. He shouldn't have to be up at this time! It was immoral to be awake before the sun was past the horizon!

He heard the door to Harry's dorm open and quickly slipped into the shadows, no part of his body showing. Harry went by quickly, oblivious to Colin's presence. Colin smirked and counted to ten after he'd disappeared from view. He rubbed his eyes, and put a large, eager smile on his face, then rushed down the stairs to meet Harry at the portrait hole.

"I heard someone saying your name on the stairs, Harry! Look what I've got here! I've had it developed, I wanted to show you - " Colin said quickly, thrusting the photograph under Harry's bemused face. "Will you sign it?" he asked eagerly, trying not to wince at the thought.

"No," Harry said, looking around at the empty common room. "Sorry, Colin, I'm in a hurry - Quidditch practice," he said and climbed through the portrait hole.

Colin glared after him. He was not getting away _that_ easy!

"Oh wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!" he said, scrambling after him.

"It'll be really boring," Harry said too quickly, obviously eager to get rid of him.

Colin ignored him, his face excited. He was actually excited - they hadn't had flying lessons yet, as they started next Tuesday.

"You were the youngest house player in a hundred years, weren't you, Harry? Weren't you?" Colin asked. "You must be brilliant. I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is?"

He noticed Harry's exasperated look and grinned inwardly.

"I don't really understand Quidditch," he said, becoming breathless. "Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly around trying to knock people off their brooms?" he asked, relating the information he'd been told by Ginevra, Fred, George, Luna and Neville.

"Yes," Harry said heavily. "They're called Bludgers. There are to Bewaters on each team, who carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. Fred and George Weasley are the Gryffindor Beaters."

"And what are the other balls for?" Colin asked, pretending to look at Harry with an open mouth and then fall down a few steps.

"Well, the Quaffle - that's the biggish red one - is the one that scores goals. Three Chasers on each team throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through the goalposts at the end of the pitch - they're three long poles with hoops on the end."

Colin contemplated rolling his eyes. Of course he knew that! He wasn't an _idiot_ just because he was a first year!

"And the fourth ball -" he said instead.

"- is the Golden Snitch, and it's very small, very fast and difficult to catch. But that's the Seeker's got to do, because a game of Quidditch doesn't end until the Snitch has been caught. And whichever team's Seeker gets the Snitch earns his team an extra hundred and fifty points."

"And you're Gryffindor Seeker, aren't you?" Colin asked, feigning awe.

"Yes," Harry said as they left the castle and started across the wet grass. "And there's the Keeper, too. He guards the goalposts. That's it, really."

Colin continued to question Harry all the way down to the Quidditch Pitch. He asked questions until his voice was hoarse and he didn't think he could talk again. Finally, they arrived at the changing rooms and Harry started to go inside.

"I'll go and get a good seat, Harry!" he said in a piping voice, the only one he could manage after all those questions.

He performed a basic warming charm on his robe that he'd read in the _Standard Book of Spells_ and waited. He waited and waited and waited some more... They were taking forever! After twenty minutes, Colin checked his watch, his stomach grumbling. He could sneak up to the Great Hall to get something to eat. If they weren't out by now, they wouldn't be in that short amount of time...

"Psst, Colin!" Ginny whispered from the bottom of the stands. He hurried over to the end of the stand and looked over the bar down at her. "I brought you some toast... Heard Ron and Granger talking about Quidditch practice," she explained.

"Thanks," Colin said genuinely, taking the toast and marmalade eagerly.

They sat in silence for a while and Ginny looked to the Quidditch room, frowning.

"How long have they been in there?" Ginny asked.

"Just over thirty minutes now," Colin said, finishing the toast.

"The Slytherins came to breakfast in their Quidditch clothes, so if they don't hurry up and start soon, then they're not going to get any practice in!" Ginny said. "Draco's the new Seeker," she said with a grin, remembering how he looked in the Quidditch uniform.

"Granger and Ron are coming over," Colin said, looking through his camera at them.

"All right... I'll be under the stands," Ginny said then hurried down before they could see her.

Ron and Hermione sat in the stands, ignoring Colin. After about fifteen minutes and five pieces of toast eaten by Ron alone, Harry walked out onto the Quidditch Pitch with the rest of the team.

Fred and George looked at Colin, giving him a brief nod of recognition, before looking to each other and mounting their brooms. They flew into the air as one and soared for a few minutes.

"Aren't you finished?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Haven't even started yet," Harry said, looking at their toast and marmalade jealously. "Wood's been teaching us new moves," he said, mounting his broom and soaring up into the air.

Fred and George smirked and flew past Harry, daring him to race them. He accepted eagerly, flying after them quickly.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" Fred called as they hurtled around the corner.

He knew exactly what it was. Colin was in the stands taking picture after picture of them.

"Look this way, Harry! This way!" he cried shrilly.

"Who's that?" Fred asked, covering George's laughs.

"No idea," Harry lied, flying away even faster.

Fred and George looked at each other and started laughing.

"What's going on?" Wood asked as he flew over to them. "Why's that first-year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training programme."

George rolled his eyes and looked down at the ground. _As if the Slytherins would be dumb enough to make a first-year photograph them in such an obvious place!_

"He's in Gryffindor," Harry said quickly.

_Thought you didn't know him..._ Fred thought sarcastically.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," George said.

"What makes you say that?" Wood asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Because they're here in person," George said, pointing.

Harry and Wood looked to see the green-robed people walking onto the pitch, broomstick in their hands.

"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed, outraged. "I booked the pitch for today! We'll see about this!" He shot to the ground quickly, landing harder than he'd meant to.

Harry followed, Fred and George behind him in a split second. They had to see _this_ fight...

"Flint! This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin captain.

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Marcus Flint said reasonably, despite the trollish look on his face.

Fred and George were sure that Flint's face actually looked like that and he _was_ being practical...

Angeline, Alicia and Katie landed on the round, leering at him.

"But I booked the pitch!" Wood said, spitting at the same time. "I booked it!"

"Ah, but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. _I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practise today on the Quidditch pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker_."

"You've got a new Seeker? Where?" Wood asked, distracted now.

Malfoy stepped out from behind the other six Slytherin players, a large smirk on his face.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Fred asked, playing dumb. Knowing that he was being watch by both teams, he looked at Draco with dislike.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said and the entire Slytherin teams smiled broader. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

All seven held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words 'Nimbus Two Thousand and One' gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early-morning sun.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," he said, flicking a piece of dust from the end.

Despite his tone, it was clear he cared for the broom.

"I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps," he said, smiling at Fred and George nastily, who were holding Cleansweep Fives, "sweeps the board with them."

The Gryffindor team were silent for a few moments. Fred and George glared at Flint in warning. Their eyes flashed with power and he started for a moment then looked away from them quickly.

"Oh look," Flint sneered. "A pitch invasion."

Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on.

_The nosy gits_, the twins thought in disgust.

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?" Ron asked, looking at Malfoy.

_The great powers of deduction of Defective Ron are on display again!_ Fred and George thought to each other.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Malfoy said smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Fred and George were embarrassed beyond belief when Ron's mouth dropped open and he openly stared at the seven brooms in awe.

"Good, aren't they?" Draco said smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives, I expect a museum would bid for them."

Fred and George had to smirk slightly at that.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," Hermione said sharply "_They _got in on pure talent."

Although it sounded like she was defending Fred and George, the stuck-up, snobbish tone that she used made them want to knock her on the head with their clubs.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," Draco spat.

Flint moved in front of Draco as Fred and George went to jump on him in congratulations.

"How dare you!" Alicia shrieked.

Ron pulled his wand out and pointed it under Flint's arm at Draco's face. Fred and George wisely moved out of the way. They'd seen the boil his wand had given Flitwick the day before and didn't want the same thing, or something worse, to happen to them!

A loud band echoed throughout the stadium and a green light shot out the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying backwards onto the grass.

"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" Hermione squealed.

Ron went to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almightly belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.

The Slytherin team seemed to be paralysed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging on to the broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, laughing and pounding the ground with his fist.

Fred and George started laughing into each other's shoulders, biting their hands to stop from drawing attention to themselves. The rest of the team crowded around Ron, who was still belching slugs, yet no one went very close to him.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," they heard Harry mutter to Hermione. She nodded and they lifted him up by the arms.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin asked.

He'd stopped talking to Ginevra at the huge bang and had only just managed to arrive on this side of the pitch. Although disappointed it wasn't the Dark Mark or Killing Curse, spells that also shot out green lights, he was highly amused at _this_ result!

Ron heaved and more slugs dribbled down his robes.

"Oooh," Colin said, fascinated. Ginevra would _kill_ for a picture of this! "Can you hold him still, Harry?"

"Get out of the way, Colin!" Harry said angrily, pushing past him.

Colin smirked as they left the pitch. He was _definitely_ getting on Potter's nerves!

"What happened here? Are those _slugs_?" Neville asked, seeing the slime-covered things on the ground.

Ginevra arrived a few seconds later, puffing. She'd run up to the castle to get Neville and they'd run all the way back.

"Ron tried to hex Draco and it ended up backfiring on him," Fred and George said laughing.

"You'll be hearing about this from Professor McGonagall, Flint!" Wood bellowed at him, stalking off the pitch.

Angelina, Alicia, and Katie followed him, glaring at the Slytherins, most of whom were still laughing at Ron's predicament.

"Where'd the Golden Trio go?" Ginevra asked her brothers.

"They're taking him to Hagrid's," they replied, mounting their brooms.

Ginevra and Neville got on behind them quickly. Ginny moved forward so Colin could get on behind herself and Fred.

"So why did Ron try to hex Draco anyway?" she asked as they flew to Hagrid's cabin.

"Draco called Hermione a Mudblood," Fred replied, smirking.

Ginevra laughed heartily. "Gods, that would have been priceless!"

"What does it mean?" Colin asked with a frown.

"It's an insult to someone who's Muggle-born... People that have magical parents on both sides are pure-bloods. Muggle-borns are Mudbloods. It means 'dirty blood'," Fred said with a grin.

"Is there a different term for someone who's a half-blood?" Colin asked anxiously.

"There might be," Fred said, then went silent as they hovered over Hagrid's hut, voices filtering out of the chimney.

"... some wizards - like Malfoy's family - who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people calle pure-blood." A burp filtered up, as well as a small thud as the slug presumably hit the basin. "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom - he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

Neville glowered, wishing he could hex Ron through the thatched roof.

"An' they haven't invented a spell out Hermione can't do," Hagrid said.

Ginevra gagged. "Gods... It's a bloody Mudblood-lover convention!"

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," Ron said.

George mimicked him stupidly, disgusted that his brother had no _pride_ in his heritage and bloodline.

"Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's mad. Most wizards these days are half-blood anway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out," Ron's voice said again.

"He just quoted Father! Word for word! He lacks the ability to think on his own, doesn't he? And all this time I thought he was just acting," Ginevra said shaking her head.

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," Hagrid's voice said loudly as more thuds were heard. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

"That would have been excellent! Mother would have _killed_ Ron!" George said blissfully, the others smirking at him.

"Harry, gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?" Hagrid asked, amusement evident in his voice, even through the chimney.

"I have _not_ been giving out signed photos," Harry said hotly. "If Lockhart's still putting that about - "

"I'm on'y jokin'," Hagrid said, his laughter still floating out of the chimney.

"Gods! It's a Potter _and_ Mudblood convention! Can we go now? I think _I'm_ going to start heaving slugs soon," Ginevra said in disgust.

"Agreed..." Fred and George replied and as they went to fly off, they heard Hagrid's voice again.

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'."

"They're coming out! Go in to the Forest; quick!" Ginny said urgently and quietly.

Nodding to her, the twins quickly flew over to the Forbidden Forest. They landed near the end of the tree line, but not so close as to be seen. As the Trio followed Hagrid around to his vegetable patch, they snuck out to the front, listening in warily.

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" Hermione asked in a snobbish, know-it-all tone. "Well, you've done a good job on them."

Fred and George lifted their noses and mimicked her, rolling their eyes in disgust.

"That's what yer little sister said," Hagrid said, nodding to Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday. Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house," he said, winking at Harry. "If yeh ask me, _she_ wouldn' say no ter a signed - "

Ginny was caught between her desire to hex the Trio and the half-giant, and between leaving without getting caught. She sighed, glared over at them and nodded to Fred and George. They all remounted the brooms and flew towards Hogwarts, Hagrid's roars at Ron's slugs following them.

.-.-.-.

Ginny ate her shepherd's pie, smirking as Ron and Harry came in to the Great Hall, muttering about their detentions. Hearing what they had to do, she looked over at Lockhart, who was smiling and talking with Flitwick about his fans. Flitwick looked like he wanted to hex the man, but refrained admirably.

"Did it work?" Parvati asked Ginevra.

"Did what work?" she asked in return, frowning.

"Padma and I went by Lockhart's office, saying how_ sad_ it was that Harry had detention. Then we went by Filch's office and did the same, but with your brother," Parvati said smirking.

"Then it worked. Harry is being forced to sign Lockhart's fan mail," Ginevra said laughing. "And Ronnie-kins is cleaning the trophy room without magic," she said smirking at her.

"Good. Well, I had better make up some excuse to Lavender so I can go to the Room of Requirement. We'll be there in fifteen minutes," Parvati whispered, returning her attention to Lavender, who was oblivious to her lack of attention.

Ginevra touched Colin's shoulder lightly, then Neville's and they left the Great Hall quickly. A few seconds later, Luna and Seamus were beside them, both puffing from having run after them.

They arrived at the Room of Requirement, the door already there. They knocked and it opened.

"Took you long enough! Where _have_ you been?" Pansy drawled, smirking at them.

"Quidditch, then spying on the Trio at Hagrid's and lunch," Ginevra replied, sitting across from her.

"I don't suppose you saw any of ours at lunch? I want to know how long they're going to take," Pansy muttered.

"Parvati and Padma are coming in about ten minutes. Fred and George will probably get here with them. I have no idea about the other Slytherins," Ginny replied with a shrug.

As Pansy went to reply, there was a knock at the door. It opened to reveal Draco, Blaise, Gregory and Vincent. They walked in, talking to each other and reenacting Ron's performance at the Quidditch pitch earlier. Gregory and Vincent laughed loudly as Blaise started to heave imaginary slugs.

"Lovely," Pansy drawled, smirking at them with an arched eyebrow.

"You got photos of it, right?" he asked Colin, ignoring Pansy.

"Of course I did!" Colin said with a smirk. "They aren't developed yet," he added.

"Well, get to it then! We need a good laugh," Gregory said.

"You can laugh about it at Christmas then," Colin said smugly.

Gregory's retort was interrupted by another knock on the door and Lee entered the room quickly, sans Fred and George.

.-.-.-.

Fred looked at George and they nodded to each other. Getting up from the Gryffindor table, they followed the Patil twins at a discreet distance.

Despite their bright hair, they were able to blend in with the crowd and become unnoticed. Even with their skills, it still became harder as the Patil twins headed into less populated areas.

George and Fred rounded the corner into an empty corridor. The Patil twins had disappeared.

_I told you they were following us,_ Padma said to Parvati telepathically.

_It's almost scary how smug you can sound in your mind,_ Parvati replied.

_I wonder why they were following us though. Why not head straight to the Room of Requirement?_ Padma mused.

_We wanted to talk to you before we went there,_ two male voices said in their heads. _Will you take the spell off now?_ Fred and George asked.

_How are you in our heads? Why can we hear you?_ Parvati and Padma demanded, taking their invisibility spell off at the same time.

"We're all on the same wavelength," Fred replied.

"Our brain waves are the same due to us being telepathic twins. If there were another set of twins here and they were telepathic, we could hear what they were thinking to each other, or talk to them too," George finished.

"How do you know that?" Parvati and Padma asked suspiciously.

"Contrary to popular belief, we do read books that have nothing to do with jokes or pranks," Fred and George replied.

"What did you want to talk about then?"

Fred and George looked at each other with smirks, then advanced on them. In unison, both Parvati and Padma moved back into the wall. The Weasley twins grinned, putting an arm on either side of them so they wouldn't move.

"Let us go!" Parvati and Padma said.

_So you are the same then. We thought as much... How can you sleep at night without each other?_

Parvati and Padma stared at them in shock.

"How did you know about that?"

"We're the same. We were luckier though and got into the same House. How can you stand to sleep without the other?" Fred and George asked curiously.

"We don't. We've been sneaking off to each other every night," they replied. "Since we go home for the holidays it's a lot easier as we share the same room," Parvati and Padma said. "And even if we don't go home, there's not enough people here to wonder why we're not in our own rooms."

_Should we show them?_ Fred asked his twin.

_I think we should,_ George replied with a minute nod.

Parvati and Padma shared glances as they recognised the familiar look on Fred and George's faces that told them they were speaking telepathically.

Fred leaned to George and started kissing him deeply. They both kept their eyes open and focused on the Patil twins to judge their reaction. Surprisingly, it was relief and excitement.

"Thank the Gods," Parvati and Padma breathed. "We were worried that you would only want one of us each," they said.

"We couldn't separate you when we know how much it would hurt," Fred and George replied. "We should get up there now. We're going to be late," they muttered.

Parvati held her sister's hand and reached for George. He took her hand and watched as his twin took Padma's. Before they could move a large jolt of power flowed through them.

The four twins breathed in as if they were one person and they could only watch as their thoughts melded into one. They became one person with each breath they took in and breathed out. Their hearts beated in unison and their minds took on one focus, becoming clearer with each thought that passed through them.

The power flowed out, leaving the four feeling calm. Without a word, they all set off to the Room of Requirement, not even having to look down to see that their feet were synchronised. They already knew...

.-.-.-.

End of fourth chapter!

.-.-.-.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, and I don't want to.

Chapter Five

A knock at the Room of Requirement stilled the talk within instantly. Gregory and Vincent opened the door and stepped back immediately, almost fearing the look in the twins' eyes.

Fred, George, Parvati and Padma walked in calmly, power following them with each step they took. Ginevra went over to them, looking into her brothers' eyes, then into the Patil twins' eyes.

"Hello, sister," the four said, grinning at her identically.

"By the Gods..." she breathed in shock, staring at them again. "What happened?"

"We have become One," they replied.

"No, really?" Pansy said sarcastically.

"How?" Colin asked, ignoring Pansy.

"Power flowed through us and made us One," the four replied.

"Does this mean they don't need the potion?" Millicent asked.

"They probably will so they can communicate with us," Blaise said.

"We're late for Tom," Draco said, looking at his pocket watch.

'We're all here,' Ginevra wrote.

Tom didn't reply and they were all sucked into the diary quickly.

**.-.-.-.**

"Welcome back," Tom said.

"Thank you," they replied with bows.

Tom looked at them all, his eyes resting on the four twins almost immediately. They all had their arms wrapped around one another, no longer holding hands.

"It is encouraging to see that you four have bonded so quickly," he said with a charming smile.

Just as the four went to tell Tom that they were One, they noticed that Ginevra was giving them a very minute shake of her head. Curious, but not willing to question her judgement, the twins gave low bows in their pairs.

"Thank you, our Lord," they replied.

"You're welcome," Tom replied, seeming absent-minded. "Now that you all know about the Chamber, I feel that you must know that the Basilisk is still inside, waiting for my return. As he has not been let out, nor feed for fifty years, I am afraid that he will be very hungry and so, you can not see him as of yet," Tom said apologetically. "I need to feed him and in order to do that, I will have to possess you," he said, looking straight at Ginevra and not at Draco, as the others would have assumed.

"Me? Why me? Draco's the better person, surely!" Ginevra protested in shock.

Tom looked at her for a moment, his expression clearly showing that he did not like being questioned. Then he gave a sigh and replied to her.

"Yes, he would be. However, Draco is also the first person that Harry Potter and his friends would suspect. _You_ would be the furthest one from their minds," he said. "Even if they did notice you, they would immediately assume that any odd behaviour is due to your supposed crush on Harry Potter," Tom said practically. "And if I _do_ possess you I can show you power beyond your dreams," he added so she would agree.

"All right. I'll do it," Ginevra said bravely, stepping forward.

"Excellent. You can not do it here, as then you will not be able to leave the diiary. Once you have all left the diary, leave Ginevra and myself alone, is that understood?" Tom asked looking at them all in turn.

"Yes, it is understood," they replied.

Tom nodded, satisfied, and waved his hand, watching with a smirk as they disappeared from his diary.

**.-.-.-.**

Ginevra looked to her brothers and the Patil twins, who were still holding onto each other.

"Why didn't you let us tell him?" they asked.

"I had a bad feeling about it..." Ginevra replied with a frown.

"Oh, all right," they replied, knowing from experience what that meant.

"She says that she has a bad feeling and you accept that as a reason?" Pansy asked in surprise.

"The last time Ginevra had a bad feeling, we were in St. Mungo's for two weeks," Fred and George replied.

"Another time she had a bad feeling, their father found them trying to coerce Ron into making the Unbreakable Vow," Padma and Parvati said with smirks.

"He almost did it too..." Fred and George muttered.

"We should go before Tom realises that nothing's happening," Colin said, looking at the diary in Ginny's hands.

"Be careful. You've never been possessed before and he'll have access to _every_ thought you've ever had. He'll have complete control of your body and your mind will be out of sorts, like you're not all there," Draco warned her.

"All right," Ginny said nervously.

They left the Room of Requirement, leaving Ginny alone with the diary and a quill. Taking in a deep breath, she wrote to Tom in the diary.

She felt her mind being pushed and pulled at the same time and suddenly, it was like she wasn't there anymore. No, that wasn't right. She was there, in her mind. She was just at the back of her mind, watching everything that was happening to her.

Ginevra/Tom lifted their hand and looked at it, almost surprised. They smirked and tucked the diary into their bag, leaving the Room of Requirement quickly.

"It worked," Neville said, seeing the way that Ginevra held herself was more like the way Tom did.

"Of course it worked," they replied smugly. "Leave before we're spotted and someone gets suspicious," they demanded.

They nodded quickly and all left in separate directions.

Ginny/Tom smirked at having power again and walked down the corridor. Instead of going to the staircase like she thought he would, Tom stopped at a nearby statue and raised her wand.

"_Expositus_," they said clearly and the statue opened, as per the Latin command.

They grinned and walked into the revealed passageway. Hurrying down the seemingly hundreds of stairs, they opened a door at the end to find themselves at standing at the beginning of an overgrown path, right outside of Hogwarts.

_Amazing! Where does this lead?_ Ginny asked Tom curiously.

_It leads to where the roosters are kept,_ Tom replied.

Ginny noticed that his tone was slightly impatient and just nodded in return.

They moved along the path stealthily, barely making a sound in the long grass. They stopped at the coop and grabbed a rooster by the neck. Quickly looking around to make sure that no one had seen them, they went along the path again and returned to the door. Going inside, they hurried up the steps and stopped at a door not very far up. They opened the door and made sure that no one was about before hurrying out into the corridor.

Ginevra noticed their surroundings and saw that they were on the first floor. Wondering where they were going, but not foolish enough to ask questions a second time, she just waited to see where Tom would take her.

They stopped in front of a closed door, wailing coming from the inside. Recognising the door, Ginny wondered what on earth they were doing at Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Tom opened the door and hurried inside, the rooster still in their hand. Luckily Moaning Myrtle wasn't inside, or else she would have complained about the rooster...

They hissed at the sink (in a language called _Parseltongue_, according to Tom's memories) and watched with increasing pleasure as the tap on the broken sink glowed a brilliant white light. The tap began to spin and then the sink moved. It sank out of sight, revealing a large pipe.

They bent down, close to the edge of the pipe and hissed into it loudly. Hisses were returned and they smirked, sitting on the edge of the pipe. Holding the not-quite-dead rooster and their wand tightly, they lit their wand with a simple 'Lumos' spell, then slid down the pipe. They slid out of the pipe, standing gracefully and letting out a hiss. Again the hiss was returned, getting louder as the Basilisk came closer. They lowered their eyes and went over to the large snake, running their hands against the beautiful creature's skin lovingly.

"_You're still as magnificent as the day I was forced to leave you, my lovely_," Tom hissed.

The Basilisk hissed its displeasure at the event, then snaked its head to nudge their hand with the rooster in it.

"_Yes, I brought food for you. I will put a silencing charm on it so you can chase it around the pipes without the risk of fatally hurting yourself. For now, we need to return. I was just eager to see you,_" Tom hissed.

They cast the Silencing Charm on the rooster then let it go. The rooster ran around for a moment, then realised it was considered as food and ran along the pipes quickly, flapping its wings every so often.

The Basilisk did as it was told and lifted them out of the Chamber.

"_We will have to strangle them from now on. Next time we may not be as lucky to have a few minutes free to see you, my lovely_," Tom hissed to the Basilisk.

The snake gave something close to a nod, then slid down the pipe again carefully to chase its dinner.

They left the bathroom quickly, listening as the Basilisk hissed its pleasure at having food.

"_Come ... come to me ... let me rip you ... let me tear you ... let me kill you ..._"

They hurried to the almost-empty Gryffindor Common Room and pulled out their diary. As they wrote in it, Ginevra felt herself regain control of her body and mind again. She looked at Colin, Seamus and Neville, her eyes bright.

"It was simply _amazing_," she said with a broad grin. "We spoke to the Basilisk in Parseltongue. Apparently, only a Parselmouth can understand the language of the snakes," she said, remembering the information from Tom's memories. "The Basilisk is beautiful..." she breathed.

They questioned her for a moment longer, stopping when they saw her yawning.

"You must be exhausted after that. Draco said it would make you tired..." Colin said.

"We should all get to bed before Potter and Ron return," Neville said.

They said goodnight and made it upstairs to their dorm just as the Fat Lady portrait swung open and Harry came in to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Dean was already snoring in bed, and just before Harry opened the door, Neville and Seamus got into their beds and started to breathe heavily, as if they had been asleep for hours. They both listened as he pulled on his pyjamas, looking at each other in the darkened room. They didn't dare move or alert him to the fact that they were awake.

They waited for half an hour and just as Neville was about to fall asleep, the dorm door opened and Ron walked in, a strong smell of polish following him. The scent alone made Neville wake up properly and he grimaced then returned his attention to what Ron was saying.

"My muscles have all seized up," Ron groaned, the sounds from the bed indicating that he's sunk onto it wearily. "Fourteen time he made me buff up that Quidditch Cup before he was satisifed. And then I had another slug attack all over a Special Award for Services to the School - " Neville and Seamus covered their mouths to refrain from laughing at him " - Took ages to shift the slime ... How was it with Lockhart?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry told him what happened in a lowered voice. Seamus and Neville strained to hear what he'd heard and looked at each other in shock when they realised that he'd heard the Basilisk!

"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it? D'you think he was lying? But I don't get it - even someone invisible would've had to open the door," Ron said.

"I know," Harry replied, another shift of weight told them that he was now lying on the bed. "I don't get it either."

Seamus and Neville were silent until they heard Harry and Ron's loud snores. Once he was sure that the other three boys were actually asleep, Seamus sat up and looked at Neville in the moonlight.

"You think he's a Parselmouth?" he asked very quietly.

"Sounds like it... We'll tell the others in the morning," Neville said.

"All right. Good night, Neville," Seamus said with a yawn.

"Good night, Seamus," he replied and they both lay back down, falling asleep soon enough.

**.-.-.-.**

End of fifth chapter!

**.-.-.-.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, don't hurt me. Please don't let JKR sue me.

Chapter Six

It was fairly early on a mid-October Sunday morning when Ginevra woke up, her arm wrapped around the diary tightly and a quill gently resting on the edge of her fingers. Listening carefully, she didn't hear anything and was reassured that all of her roommates were asleep by their deep snores. She sat up slowly, so as not to wake them up, then quickly put the diary and quill in her bag.

She changed into a pair of pants, shirt and jumper, then grabbed her wand and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Smirking to herself when her roommates started grumbling and yelling at her, as always, Ginevra whistled cheerfully and headed down to the Common Room.

Fred and George were sitting on either side of Parvati, their heads leaning against her tiredly. Colin was taking a few photos, talking to Neville and Seamus at the same time. Lee was sitting across from the twins, watching Colin, but trying to act like he wasn't staring at him...

"Morning. Ready for the Slytherins' Quidditch practice?" she asked them all, grinning.

"Without food, we're not ready for anything," Fred and George muttered, yawning widely.

"Padma's waiting for us in the Great Hall," Parvati said with a grin, getting off the couch.

Fred and George cursed softly when their heads hit each other. Parvati and Ginevra helped them stand up and they watched as the twins kissed the crown of their heads better.

"Better now?" Parvati asked, kissing their lips lightly.

"Definitely," they replied smirking at her.

"Good, now we can get food," Neville said with a grin and he left the Common Room, Seamus and Colin behind him.

Lee smirked at the twins then followed the other three out.

"Come on. You wouldn't want Padma to miss out on all of the fun," Ginevra drawled.

"I'm not," the three replied in Padma's voice, smirking again. "But if they don't hurry up, then someone's going to eat all of their breakfast... And by someone, I mean the entire Slytherin Quidditch team and some," they said.

"Be right there!" Fred and George replied, hurrying out of the Common Room.

Ginevra shook her head and left with Parvati.

"How's the potion going?" Ginevra asked her as they walked along the corridor.

"It's going well. Fred and George are going with Draco to Knockturn Alley this afternoon to get the last of the supplies. It should be ready in time for the Easter long weekend," Parvati replied.

"Tom will be pleased," Ginevra said with a smile.

"You've got some rooster feathers on your jumper," Parvati said, noticing the red feathers.

"Thanks... We had to feed the Basilisk again last night," Ginevra said, picking off the feathers quickly.

"I presume she's growing bigger then?" Parvati asked.

"She shed her skin last week. Just over twenty feet long," Ginevra said, both her own and Tom's pride in her voice. "The poor thing hasn't eaten in fifty years and her growth's been stunted because of it," she said, shaking her head.

They quietened as they entered the Great Hall and sat down next the Slytherins. It was early enough that no one else was awake, teachers included, so they could sit together without being seen.

If any of the ghosts came in, as they had done before, they didn't say anything to them. The ghosts simply presumed that they were eating at the same table to save on dishes and for extra warmth in the cold season. The Bloody Baron was the only one who noticed the dark demeanors of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws at his table and often tipped his hat to them if he passed them in a less populated area.

"We have a surprise for you," Marcus Flint announced quietly, all of them knowing that the walls had eyes and ears.

"What is it?" Parvati and Padma asked eagerly.

"If we told then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Adrian asked smirking at them.

"Spoil sport," the four twins muttered.

Fred and George had gotten over Flint's comments about their brooms fairly quickly, considering he had apologised to them. Flint had also started booking the pitch early in the morning for Slytherin, so that the twins wouldn't have to get up early for Gryffindor's practice. Oliver still muttered about it any time Flint was mentioned, seen or nearby.

Everyone finished eating quickly and they went down to the Quidditch pitch, Pansy, Millicent and Ginevra talking to each other.

"They haven't said a word about any surprise to us," Pansy said offended, as she glared at the Quidditch players.

"What about you, Blaise? Do you know anything about it?" Ginevra asked him.

"Nothing," he said shaking his head.

"Haven't said a thing to me," Theodore added before they could ask.

"Greg? Vince? What do you know?" Millicent asked, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Nothing at all!" they said quickly, avoiding her gaze.

They all pestered Vincent and Gregory until they arrived at the Quidditch pitch with no more information than what they'd had from the beginning.

"When do we get our surprise?" Parvati and Padma asked eagerly.

"All right... Settle down, children," Flint teased smirking at them.

They all glared at him for being called children and he just smirked again.

"Your surprise," he said with a mocking bow, waving his wand.

Sixteen Nimbus Two Thousand and One's appeared before them and their mouths dropped.

"They're real?" Lee asked suspiciously.

"Of course!" Flint said indignantly.

"They're ours to keep?" Fred and George asked in amazement.

"We all know the handle's worth more than your house, Weasley's... No need to look so scared. They're real brooms, not fragile china," Draco drawled.

"You're calling us scared?" Fred and George asked, narrowing their eyes at him. "This from the boy who ran out of the Forbidden Forest screaming like a little girl?" they sneered smirking at him.

"I'd like to see how you would handle seeing something drinking the blood from a unicorn. I felt its very soul being sucked out of its body along with its blood and you expected me to stay and watch, like that idiot Potter?" Draco retaliated with a disgusted sneer.

"Would you three quit your bickering and get on a broom?" Ginevra said to them, mounting a broom herself.

Everyone followed suit and flew up into the air, testing the brooms experimentally. Neville looked a bit unsteady at first, then grew more comfortable as he flew around slowly, gaining speed with his confidence.

"Nicely done, Longbottom... I thought you couldn't fly," Adrain Pucey said with a smirk.

"And I thought you would have had better eyes than that," Neville sneered in reply. "Facade's are a wonderful thing."

"Indeed," Adrian replied with a nod of approval.

Everyone flew around each other, trying to dodge Fred and George's bats. Ginevra nodded to Millicent, who grinned and flew straight at the twins. Getting her wand out, she shot a spell at them, manouvering herself upwards before she crashed into them.

Fred and George started yelling at her when they realised that their bats had turned into nothing more than rubber sticks. Shrugging to each other, they started to hit them all again.

"Damn you, Fred! That's going to bruise!" Pansy cursed at him when his rubber bat hit her shoulder.

"You'll get over it!" Fred and George called back with grins, then started to hit Seamus.

Seamus glared at them and changed his wand into a cauldron and swung it dangerously.

"Let's see you hit me now!" he snarled, his Irish accent thick.

Fred and George just poked their tongues out at him and flew out of hitting and throwing range quickly.

"All right... Enough fun for now! Don't you have Quidditch tactics to spy on?" Flint called over to Fred and George.

Everyone reluctantly flew down to the pitch and shrank their brooms then began to watch the Slytherin team as they started practising their defensive.

"We'd better get up to the castle before anyone sees that we're not there," Neville said reluctantly.

"As long as we don't run into Percy I'll be fine," Ginevra muttered in disgust. "He's been trying to get Pepperup Potion into me just because he has a cold," she explained at her brother's looks.

"Mum's been hassling him to do it too... I can't have my baby girl getting sick during her first year at Hogwarts!" the mimicked, obviously quoting her words from a letter.

"Gods, is she really writing that? I think I might get sick, just to spite her," Ginevra muttered with a disgusted shudder.

Saying goodbye to Fred and George, the fourteen of them headed up to the castle, breaking off into smaller groups so no one would get suspicious.

"There you are, Ginny!" Percy said in relief.

Ginevra paled and went to run, but he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You don't look too well, Ginny. You should really get some Pepperup Potion in you. Can't have you sick during your first year, can we?" Percy said.

Ginny was in the frame of mind to hex him, then realised that the Trio were nearby and nodded, relenting reluctantly. It wouldn't do her any good to start arguing with Percy when she was supposed to be shy around Potter...

"There's a good girl... Come on then!" Percy said cheerfully, practically dragging her down to the hospital wing.

"Can't I take it after lunch? My ears are going to smoke for hours! I saw one of the third years who'd taken it the night before and her ears were still smoking! Please, Percy?" Ginny hated the fact that she was begging...

"The quicker you get it in you, the quicker it can get out," Percy said, pushing her through the hospital wing doors. "Ginny's here to take the Pepperup Potion," Percy announced to Madam Pomfrey, acting as if it was the biggest event in the history of wizardkind.

"Don't be afraid, dearie. You'll have that cold gone instantly," Pomfrey said, smiling down at her.

"I don't have a cold," Ginevra muttered.

"Of course," Pomfrey said, ignoring her and practically force-feeding her the potion.

Ginny's face went bright red and steam poured out of her ears. She was going to strangle Percy for doing this to her!

Percy looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"It looks like your head's on fire," he said with a smile, unsuccessfully attempting to make her smile too.

Ginny glared at him, softening it a bit when he looked surprised at her hostility.

"I didn't have a cold. I can't believe you made me do this," she said pouting at him.

"Well, now you'll be extra sure not to have a cold," Percy said cheerfully as the clock chimed midday. "Oh, dear. I have an appointment in the library. Try to stay out of people's way with your ears like that, all right? You don't want them to tease you," he said, rushing out of the hospital wing quickly.

Ginevra glared after him full heartedly. She was going to get him back for this!

Ginevra wrapped her robe around her tighter, trying to get some warmth. She was also trying to make herself look as inconspicuous as possible, due to the continuing outlet of steam pouring from her ears.

She'd been cursing Percy for the entire day and had heard Harry laughing about her with Ron.

Pulling her beanie down lower, she hurried to the Room of Requirement and knocked on the door. It opened immediately and she walked in, taking off her robe and beanie off in the warm room.

"So Percy finally got you, did he?" Fred and George asked, shaking their heads. "We could slip an Allergy Aniseed into his food if you want," Fred and George suggested.

"We'll curse him for you," Parvati and Padma said eagerly.

"It'd be too obvious with you two. I'll do it," Pansy said grinning.

"If anyone's going to hex the prat, it's going to be me," Ginevra snarled, unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the steam with her wand.

"Calm down, Ginevra... You're not going to get rid of the steam when you're this emotional," Blaise drawled.

Ginevra went to glare at him, then saw sense and nodded. Closing her eyes, she thought of the Dark Mark and her body relaxed visibly. With a sigh, she did the spell again and the steam finally stopped coming out of her ears.

"Thanks the Gods," she muttered in relief.

"You're welcome," Blaise replied with a mocking bow.

Ginevra smirked at him sarcastically, then sat on the couch with a sigh. Draco put his head on her lap, stretching his legs over the edge of the couch.

"I'm not a pillow, Draco," she said with a half-hearted glare.

"Feel like one to me," he replied with a shrug, shutting his eyes.

Blaise smirked and sat on Draco's stomach.

"Get off of me, Blaise!" he muttered, glaring at him.

"You feel like a couch," Blaise mocked, shrugging and leaning back.

"Do you realise how immature you're acting?" Pansy asked, rolling her eyes at them.

"Who says they're acting?" Fred and George asked with grins, then sat on either side of Blaise.

Draco winced in pain as their extra weight pushed down on him.

"Fred, George, you're hurting him," Ginevra said glaring at them.

"Hmm... It seems that a pillow is telling us that we're hurting the couch," Fred said to George.

"Odd that, isn't it?" George replied.

Ginevra glared and hit Fred, who was closest to her.

"Get off the couch," she said.

"I think we should get off the couch before the pillow starts getting more aggressive, don't you think, brother dearest?" George asked Fred with a grin.

"Of course I think, dearest brother! And I quite agree with you," Fred said as Ginevra went to hit him again.

The twins got off Draco quickly and Draco moved his legs up so Blaise would fall off. Expecting this, Blaise held onto his legs, smirking down at him as he moved up and down.

"You're going to get him all excited if you keep doing that, Draco," Fred and George said smirking at them.

Draco stopped moving and glared at the twins, then at Blaise.

"Get off me," he said.

"Why should I? You're a very comfortable couch," Blaise said with another smirk.

"And you'll make a very comfortable pin cushion if you don't move!" Draco snarled.

Suddenly, Blaise was lifted off of Draco, who sat up and gratefully stretched his legs.

"Thanks, Pansy," he muttered.

She gave a nod, then stopped the Wingardium Leviosa spell and Blaise dropped to the ground. He landed on his feet gracefully and stalked over to Pansy without missing a beat.

"Don't do that again," he snarled at her.

"Or what? You'll glare and growl at me?" Pansy taunted, smirking at him.

"And then do the same hex on you," Blaise said, flicking his wand at her.

Pansy rose into the air with a scream and she started cursing at Blaise.

"Blaise, you bastard! Let me down!"

"I'm no more a bastard than you are, Miss Parkinson. Now apologise," Blaise said, smirking.

"No! Now let me down!"

"Apologise," he repeated, taunting her.

"Let me down!"

"You do realise that I can keep you up there all night if I have to?"

Pansy started swearing at him in Latin.

"Now that was not very nice!" Blaise said and she rose higher into the air.

"Any bets on how long it'll take for her to apologise?" Fred and George asked with smirks.

"Three Galleons on another ten minutes," Lee said immediately.

"Five on twenty minutes," Draco said.

"Stop betting on me, you jerks!" Pansy yelled at them.

Fred and George ignored her, bringing out a large bowl of popcorn. They sat on the couch and waited patiently.

Ginevra shook her head at them, then grabbed some popcorn and started to throw it at Blaise.

"A Galleon on five minutes before Blaise lets her down," she said, throwing more popcorn.

"Where'd you get a Galleon?" her brothers asked in surprise.

"I've been saving for the past few years," she replied, as if it was completely obvious. "I put the three Sickles I get for Christmas and my birthday into Gringotts and I get an extra Sickle in interest for not taking out the money at the end of the year," Ginevra said with a shrug. "I've been saving since I was six, so I have seventeen Sickles and a few Knuts."

"You should be in charge of our money," they said grinning at her.

"And have you hassle me every day to borrow money? I don't think so," Ginevra said, throwing more popcorn at Blaise.

"Would you stop throwing that blasted food at me?" Blaise said glaring at her.

His concentration dropped, as did Pansy. She landed on a large, soft pillow and glared at Blaise.

"All right, pay up," Fred and George crowed, smirking as Draco and Lee handed over eight Galleons.

"Thank you, dearest brothers," Ginevra said with a broad smirk as they paid her.

"That's cheating! It was interference!" Draco said.

"You're just upset because you didn't think of it first," Ginevra drawled.

"Not the point," he muttered.

"I'm going to head back now. Potter and Ron might notice that I'm not there," Neville said.

"We'll head back too," Fred and George said.

"Might as well all leave," Colin said with a shrug.

Lee agreed and stood up quickly.

"Looks like we're all leaving then," Ginevra muttered with a sigh.

Everyone left, separating into smaller groups quickly before heading to their respective House Common Rooms.

Ginevra entered the room, not bothering to make her steps or actions silent. She looked at her sleeping roommates with a disgusted sneer. She'd finally learnt their names, not that she would ever use them...

She'd heard them talking about her snobbish ways during the day. They thought that she was a snob, just because she 'went to bed early' every day and slammed the door when she woke up early in the morning... Ginevra didn't care about their opinions at all. They were nothing more than a bunch of giggling little girls who couldn't hold a candle to the power she had...

With a smirk, she headed over to the girl that was closest to the door. Quietly muttering a spell, a bowl of water appeared on the girl's bedside table. Gently lifting the girl's hand, Ginevra placed her fingers in the water, careful not to wake her up. When her limp hand was in the water, Ginevra muttered another spell.

Satisfied, she went over to her bed, changed into her pyjamas, took the spell off the curtains and got into bed. With a smirk, Ginevra shut the curtains and fell asleep easily.

End of sixth chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter or associated trademarks! Don't sue me!

...

Chapter Seven

...

Ginevra woke up with a small yawn. Remembering what she had done the night before, she quickly opened the curtains and looked over to the girl's bed. Disappointed that she was still asleep, Ginevra quickly grabbed her things and headed to the bathroom.

She finished her shower quickly and hurried back to the room to get her 'forgotten' bag. As Ginevra entered the dormitory, she smirked in triumph, then put a disgusted face on.

"_What_ is that smell?" she exclaimed in disgust.

At the loud sound, the other four girls woke up abruptly and glared at her.

Ginevra's second spell worked and the bowl disappeared as the girls woke up.

"Why'd you wake us up for?" they yelled at her.

"I was just wondering what that smell was... I didn't _mean_ to wake you up," Ginny said, looking slightly abashed.

"What is that smell? It's gross!" a girl said, noticing the smell too.

"Ewww... What is that?" another said, holding her nose delicately.

The girl closest to the door went bright red, feeling the damp patch underneath her.

"Are you all right?" Ginny asked in a concerned voice, looking straight at her.

"I'm fine," she said, holding her head up.

"All right... I'll open the window, that might help the smell some," Ginny said, opening the window and grabbing her bag. "See you all in the Great Hall," she said in a fake cheery voice.

Murmuring a spell, Ginevra smirked as she heard the wind inside the room increase and all of the blankets in the dorm flew off the beds. Screams followed her down to the Common Room...

...

"You've been labelled the bitchiest girl in our year, do you know that?" Colin asked in pride, smirking at Ginevra.

"They blamed the entire thing of whats-her-face wetting the bed on me, right?" Ginevra asked with a smirk.

"Of course. You were the only one who would have done that to _poor _Anna!_ She's been trying to be nice to you and then you do something horrible like that to her!_" Colin mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

Ginevra laughed heartily, quickly sobering when her roommates walked into the Great Hall.

"Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Quidditch," Colin replied quietly as Nearly Headless Nick floated over.

"Hello, Sir Nick... How are you?" Ginevra asked politely.

"Quite well, Miss Weasley. I am expecting a letter from Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore soon. He is the leader of the Headless Hunt," Nick explained at their looks.

"I hope that you get in, Sir Nick. It would be an honour for Gryffindor's House ghost to be a part of the Headless Hunt," Ginny said with a bow of her head.

Nick seemed to swell with pride and he smiled down at Ginny fondly.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley! I appreciate your sentiments," he said.

"You're very welcome, Sir Nick... I have heard that your deathday is approaching, is this true?" she asked.

"Why, yes it is indeed! I did not know that anyone living knew of it! It will be my five hundredth deathday," he said, drawing himself up even more proudly.

"Congratulations," Colin said.

"Are you celebrating your deathday then?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Yes, actually. I am having a party in the dungeons on the night of Halloween. Friends from all around the country are coming," Nick said proudly.

"Wow... Have you invited Harry Potter then?" Ginny asked.

Nick looked at her curiously.

"I have not thought of it. Why do you suggest it?" he asked.

"Imagine how impressed all of your friends would be if you had _Harry Potter_ there celebrating your deathday with you! You would probably have to invite Hermione and Ron so he would not feel like the odd one out, of course..." Ginny trailed off, seeing the slightly glazed look in Nick's eyes.

"Yes... Well, I shall have to think about it. I shall not take up any more of your time. Enjoy your breakfast," Nick said cheerfully, leaving the Great Hall quickly.

"Nicely done, Ginevra dearest," Parvarti and Padma said from across the table, smirking at her.

"Thank you... Now we can have our Halloween Feast without any interruptions from the Trio," Ginny muttered.

"Speaking of the Trio ... It seems as though they've lost a limb," Colin muttered, looking over to see Hermione and Ron walk into the Great Hall, sans Harry. Ginevra's roommates left, whispering to each other.

"Personally, I think it would be better if they lost actual limbs..." Ginevra snarled. "I'm going to the Common Room. See if I can make sure no one tells Ron of my new bitch title," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

...

Ginevra climbed through the portrait hole, standing and brushing the dust off of her robes. She looked around the Common Room and put a tentative smile on her face as she saw her four roommates. Walking over to them, it didn't escape Ginny's notice that their conversation died down immediately.

"Hi!" she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful. "I was wondering if you'd like to have a girl's night tonight. I haven't been able to introduce myself properly, but I've been so tired lately! I think it was just a rather large bout of being homesick," Ginny said sweetly, smiling at them.

"Uh... We don't know," one said; Anna, she was sure.

"Maybe once you apologise we'll consider it!" another one said, sniffing snobbishly. Maya?

"Apologise? Oh, you mean for slamming the door? I really don't mean to, you know! It's just I usually wake up my brothers that way, you know my brothers... Ron, Fred and George? Yeah, Ron's room's near mine and he never gets up without some encouragement, so I guess I'm just used to it now... I'll try to stop it, really!" she said.

"I wasn't talking about _that_! I was talking about what you did this morning to poor Anna! She was so embarrassed about it!" Maya said, with a glare that wasn't harsh enough to intimidate Ginny.

"I did something to Anna?" Ginny asked in a confused tone. "What did I do?"

"You made her wet the bed," another one, Grace, hissed quietly, looking to make sure that no one was listening.

"How could I do that? I didn't leave my bed all night!" Ginny said, blushing delicately.

"How do we know that? You can't prove it!" Maya said angrily.

"No, I can't prove it... But why would I lie about it? I don't have the ability to lie," Ginny said.

"Ha! _Everyone_ has the ability to lie!" Anna said.

"Maybe **you** do... You shouldn't tell people that I did something to you when I didn't! Surely if I _did_ do something then someone would have heard me leave my bed and make my way across the room to get to your bed! Anyway, I was freezing last night and I wouldn't have left my bed if I was offered twenty Galleons!"

"I'm not lying! I've never wet the bed before!" Anna said.

"So you immediately blame it on me just because I've been homesick the past month?" Ginny asked in a hurt tone.

"No! Yes. I... I just thought that you were the only possibility," Anna said, feeling ashamed now.

"You _said_ it was her!" Grace said, staring at her in shock.

"Well, I thought it was," Anna said quietly.

It didn't escape Ginevra's notice that the fourth girl, Melinda, was silent through all of this, looking bored and annoyed.

"Please don't argue! I couldn't stand it if you started hating each other just because of me! Just forget about it, okay?" Ginny asked, secretly annoyed that they agreed and didn't argue. "So would you like to have a girl's night tonight then?" she asked, blushing slightly again.

"All right. See if you can get your brothers to get some snacks for us," one of the girls said in a low tone.

Ginny nodded enthusiastically, trying not to wince when she felt her neck crack slightly.

"We'll meet you in the dorm tonight at oh... about eight, okay?" Anna said. "Grace, you try to get ..."

Ginevra stopped listening and left their little group, bristling at the fact that they had the gall to _dismiss_ her.

"All right, Ginevra?" Parvati asked quietly, Lavender still babbling away, not noticing Ginny's arrival.

"They _dismissed_ me! They bloody dismissed me!"

"Don't worry about them. They're idiots and we'll deal with them later," Parvati said, Fred and George shining through her eyes.

"Can you get some snacks for me? I'm having a _girl's night_ with them," Ginevra said, sneering over at her roommates. She shuddered in disgust.

"Come with us now. We'll show you how to get them. We promised to feed the salamander a Filibuster firework tonight," Parvati said.

Across the room, Fred and George stood up with Lee, leaving the Common Room quickly.

"Thanks Parvati... Talk to you later," Ginny whispered, quickly hurrying after them.

"What do you think, Parv?" Lavender asked suddenly, her attention turning to her again.

"Sounds stupid, really," Parvarti said, watching with a smirk as Lavender's eyes widened in shock.

Unfortunately, Lavender then started arguing about why pleated skirts were the 'in' fashion. Padma sent her twin her sympathies...

...

"Right... Come on, Ginevra," Fred and George said, hurrying along the corridor.

Lee grinned at her and followed the siblings, staying to the shadows.

They headed down to the Great Hall entrance, discreetly hurrying down the staircase on the right. They went through corridors, ending up directly beneath the Great Hall and right in front of the fruit portrait. Fred and George tickled the pear and ushered Ginevra inside, Lee waiting outside to warn them if anyone came by.

"Masters! What would Masters like?" an eager house-elf asked.

"Butterbeers, cream biscuits, popcorn and chocolate," Fred and George replied.

In seconds, the required food and beverages were in front of them. Fred and George thanked the house-elf before leaving again, Ginny barely having enough time to look at everything in the kitchens.

Fred and George carried the food to an empty room nearby, careful not to drop anything. Placing the food on a table, they smirked at Ginevra and started to hex the food. Lee stood at the door, an identical smirk on his face as he watched them do their work.

"So why are you having this girl's night in if they had the audacity to dismiss you?" Fred and George asked, looking at her intensely.

"I have to spend the next five years with this bunch of girls... I don't want them to be suspicious of me and planting seeds of doubt, now do I?" Ginevra asked with a smirk. "Besides, in this one night I can probably prove to them how much I _love_ Harry Potter and how he's my knight in shining armour," she spat, feeling disgusted.

"Truth and dare will always work for that," Lee said. "All you have to do is blush when you say _truth_ and of course, since they're girls, they'll naturally ask you who you like," he said with a shrug.

"Okay, we're done... Canary creams are the biscuits. Turns them into large birds for a moment. The chocolate literally melts in your mouth. And finally, since we're so nice and don't want them being bitches to you, we left the popcorn and Butterbeers alone," Fred and George said with grins.

"Great! Could you give them to me before you do your stunt with the Salamander then? That way they won't think _I've _tampered with them," Ginevra said.

"Done... See you tonight," they replied with winks, carrying the food out of the room with Lee's help.

Ginevra waited a few minutes then left the room too, bumping into someone as she left.

"I'm sorry! Are you all right?" the boy asked as she fell to the ground.

"I think so," Ginny said quietly, looking up at him under lowered eyes, a blush creeping across her face.

"Here, let me help you up," he offered, extending a hand to her.

Ginny took it warily and he pulled her to her feet in an easy motion.

"I'm Cedric Diggory," he said, shaking her hand. "You're Fred and George's sister, right?" he asked, smiling at her.

"I'm Ginny," she said with a small smile. "You're strong," she whispered in a stereotypical first-year voice. "Are you on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team?"

"I'm hoping to be," he said with a wink. "How'd you know I was in Hufflepuff?" Cedric asked, then gave a laugh as she indicated to the yellow and black scarf around his neck. "Should have realised. You've got good eyes there, little lady. You should try out for Seeker sometime," he said with another wink.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"You've probably got to get somewhere, so I'll let you go now. See you later, little lady," Cedric said with a friendly smile, watching her intensely as she left.

Ginevra left, bristling at having been called 'little', no matter how nice he'd said it... Sure, she was a first year, but she was taller than everyone in her year, for the Gods sakes!

Muttering obsceneties under her breath, Ginevra stalked all the way up to the Gryffindor Common Room, impatiently tapping her foot on the moving stairs. She entered the room, still feeling disgruntled and when her roommates smiled at her, she momentarily forgot that she was being nice to them and almost snarled. Remembering just in time, she gave them a fake smile. It fooled them easily and they returned to their whisperings.

Still more than annoyed at Cedric's words, she remembered how he'd looked at her and thought of an idea. Heading over to Lee, Fred and George, she sat beside them, waiting until they acknowledged her presence.

"What do you know about Cedric Diggory?" Ginevra asked when they looked at her.

"Hogwart's golden boy. Good marks in subjects, Hufflepuff's next big Quidditch player... He's almost perfect," they sneered.

"Almost?" Ginevra asked, looking around quickly to make sure that they weren't being listened in on.

"Completely naive ... or stupid, we still haven't figured that one out yet," Fred and George replied with smirks. "He thinks that You-Know-Who," they said, lowering their voices, "is dead and can't return."

"Interesting," Ginevra said, a mischievious-that-could-be-evil-look on her face.

"What are you planning?" Lee asked, Fred and George echoing him a second later.

"Tell you later ... I have to attend to my own personal torture," she muttered, seeing her roommates coming over. "Can I have the food now?" Ginny asked in a slightly louder voice, so her roommates wouldn't think that she was whispering about them, or some such nonsense.

"Ready, Ginny?" Anna asked her.

"We'll just get the food then you can go," Fred and George said, getting up and leaving before anyone had time to say anything.

"Lee Jordan," Lee introduced, putting on one of the fakest smiles Ginevra had ever seen on him before.

"I'm Anna," Anna introduced. "This is Grace and Maya," she said, not realising how bored and uninterested Lee was.

"I'm Melinda," the other girl added after a moment of silence.

"I was getting to you," Anna said, disgruntled.

Melinda just glared at Anna, who had returned her attention back to Lee.

"Ah, too bad that the introductions have already been made," Fred and George said, feigning disappointment. They discreetly gave the food to Ginevra, so no others in the Common Room would see, and ushered them upstairs quickly, eager to be rid of them.

She glared at them, quickly turning it into a smile when one of her roommates caught her eye... Probably Maya...

"Who wants to see what happens to a salamander when you feed it a Filibuster firework?" Lee called, his voice travelling up to the girl's dorm. People gathered around quickly, eagering watching as Fred and George got the fireworks and 'rescued' salamander out.

Ginevra muttered under her breath about how unfair this all was, then breathed deeply and reminded herself that _she'd_ organised this. She had to convince them of her innocence and _love_ for Harry Potter. She shut the door and turned to face the other four girls.

"Butterbeers! I love those!" Anna said eagerly, quicky grabbing a bottle.

Ginevra tried very hard not to roll her eyes. Instead, she took another deep breath and grabbed a drink for herself.

Soon enough they were talking about boys and makeup, Ginevra trying to have _some_ input into the conversation. She noticed that Melinda looked bored and uncomfortable too.

"Do you want to play a game of truth and dare?" she asked suddenly, Lee's words coming back to her.

"Great idea! I'll go first!" Anna said quickly.

Ginevra smiled and made herself listen to what they were saying. She could use it for blackmail later...

"Truth or dare?" Maya asked Anna.

"Dare," Anna said with a grin.

"All right... I dare you to eat three cream biscuits at once," Maya said, offering the plate to her.

_What a boring dare!_ Ginevra thought to herself, rolling her eyes inwardly. Realising that the twins had done the canary spell on them, she wondered what it would do and watched Anna eagerly.

Anna took three biscuits and shoved them all into her mouth, chewing quickly. One of the girls screamed (Grace probably) as Anna turned into a large bright yellow canary. Ginevra paled, knowing that the girls would probably look at her to accuse or question.

"What did your brothers do to the biscuits?" Maya asked in shock, grabbing a few of the feathers that were falling from Anna.

"It looks like a canary spell ... I didn't think they would do anything this stupid to our food! I'm sorry," Ginny said.

"Well we _did_ ask you to get the snacks from them. Guess we should have realised that they would have done something to them," Melinda said with a sigh.

Surprised at her reaction, Ginevra gave the girl a genuine smile.

"Well, what do we do? How do we get her to change back?" Grace asked urgently.

"We'll have to wait for it to wear off... It's in the _Standard Book of Spells_," Melinda said with a shrug, when Maya and Grace looked at her.

"Since she ate three, I'd say that we have to wait for a minute or two until she turns back," Ginny added.

"Should we continue the game?" Maya asked timidly.

Anna gave a loud indignant chirp that wasn't heard in the Common Room only due to the Filibuster firework and salamander going off.

"We can wait until Anna turns back, I'm sure," Ginevra said quickly, Anna chirping in agreement.

Not even a whole minute later, Anna had returned to her human form. She shook herself and opened her mouth cautiously.

"Ginny. Truth or dare?" she asked, triumphant that it wasn't a chirp.

As per Lee's instructions, Ginny blushed and timidly said 'truth'.

"Who do you like?" Anna asked with a grin.

_How utterly predicatable..._ Ginevra thought to herself, tempted to roll her eyes. Instead, she blushed further and looked down.

"Harry Potter," Ginny said softly.

"Knew it!" Anna crowed. "I _knew_ she liked him!"

"You did? How?" she asked, looking mortified.

"You're always talking about him," Anna said.

"And we saw you swooning over him earlier when you were with that boy with the camera," Maya added.

Ginny smirked inwardly. She'd been mucking around with Colin when that had happened and if they believed it, then so much the better!

"Unless you like _him_?" Grace said with a grin.

Ginny grimaced and shook her head, denying it quickly. She realised that she was going to have to be careful where these girls were concerned. They had practically admitted that they had watched and listened to her too much...

She noticed that Melinda hadn't said a word to confirm with the other girl's, so she either wasn't interested, hadn't been watching or just wanted to continue the game...

"Your turn, Ginny," Melinda said, looking bored at the other three.

"Okay! Grace, truth or dare?" she asked with a grin.

"Dare," Grace said nervously, not willing to be questioned.

Ginny thought for a moment, wishing that she could dare her to do something actually worthwhile ... Like jump out of the window. At seven flights up, it would _definitely_ be interesting! Thinking of the most lame dare she could come up with, she reluctantly said it...

"I dare you to turn the feathers into a headress and wear it for the rest of the night," Ginevra said, wishing that she at least had Colin's camera for later blackmail purposes...

Grace sighed in some relief, then turned the five feathers into a pathetic little headress.

Ginevra resisted rolling her eyes, then caught Melinda's eye and gave a grin. Melinda hid her disgusted look that was directed at Grace, and returned the grin hesitantly.

"Melinda. Truth or dare?" Grace asked.

"Truth," she replied.

Ginny watched curiously, wondering what question Grace would ask.

"Who do you like?" she asked.

Ginevra rolled her eyes, disappointed at the complete lack of creativity on her part. Melinda obviously felt the same, because she just looked at Grace with an eyebrow raised before answering.

"No one," she replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"You can't _not_ like anyone! There's no one you think's even at least _cute_?" Maya asked, shocked.

"Well ... Colin Creevey's cute," Melinda said, another shrug accompanying her words.

"You like the camera boy?" Anna said, giggling behind her hand loudly.

"So what? **You** just turned into a canary," Melinda said with a glare, shutting Anna up straight away.

"It's your turn, Melinda," Grace said, trying to keep the peace.

"Ginny, truth or dare?" Melinda asked.

Maya pouted at being excluded, but didn't say anything.

Ginevra looked at Melinda for a moment, seeing the challenge in her eyes. She was testing her!

"Dare," she said with a smirk.

Melinda gave a nod of admiration.

"I dare you to kiss the first guy you meet when you go into the Common Room," Melinda said, smirking in return.

"How will we know if she does it?" Maya asked.

"I'll go with her to make sure she does," Melinda replied.

"All right then. Come on," Ginevra said, getting up and putting on her robe.

Melinda put hers on too and followed her out of the room and downstairs to the Common Room.

"Hey Ginny!" Fred and George said, grinning at her.

"Hi. How'd it go with the Salamander?" Ginevra asked, ignoring the triumphant look on Melinda's face.

"Fine... It blew up. Who's your friend?" they asked, looking at Melinda.

"This is Melinda, one of my roommates," Ginevra replied. "Melinda, meet Fred and George," she introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Melinda said with a smile.

"Likewise. Aren't you supposed to be having a girl's night in?" they asked.

"We're playing _truth or dare_, and I just got dared," Ginevra said with a shrug.

"Really? Anything good?" Fred and George asked eagerly.

"Better than some of them... I have to kiss the first guy I meet in the Common Room, which would be you two," she replied. "So..." Ginevra stood on her tiptoes and kissed their cheeks affectionately.

"Goodnight, Ginevra!" Fred and George said, laughing as they went up to their room.

"But ... That's cheating!" Melinda said, her mouth agape.

"No, _that's_ you not being specific enough," Ginevra replied with a smirk. "Now, let's go up and talk about why you really wanted to get out of there, shall we?" she asked, going back upstairs, Melinda following reluctantly after a moment's hesitation.

"How do you know I wanted to leave? How do you know that I wasn't just daring you?" Melinda asked.

"You keep looking over to the door and glaring at the others when you think no one's looking," Ginevra replied, smirking.

Melinda opened her mouth to say something, then failed and just crossed her arms.

"Why do you hang around with them if you don't like them?" Ginevra asked.

"Better to have those three as friends than none at all," Melinda said with a shrug.

"I'd rather have real friends than those three cows," Ginevra said pointedly.

"Well who are you friends with then? No one's seen anyone with you but your brothers, that Harry Potter fanatic and the bumbling fool! You can't tell me that _they're_ your _real_ friends?" she countered.

Ginevra laughed softly, making Melinda frown and glare at her.

"**What** is so funny?" she asked.

"Your ignorance is funny! _Harry Potter fanatic_? _Bumbling fool_? Next time I think that you should open your eyes and use them, Melinda," Ginevra said, sobering quickly.

"Anna said..."

"Don't believe everything Anna says. None of those girls are your friends, no matter how much you pretend they are," Ginevra said truthfully. "I can introduce you to people who will be real friends to you, or if not that, then they will certainly not lie to you about it! If they don't want to be friends with you then they will tell you and not sugar-coat it like those three," Ginevra said in disgust, indicating in the direction of their dorm.

"But..." Melinda said for a moment, then shook her head. "When?"

"After tonight," Ginevra said. "We should get up there now... Act annoyed that I cheated out of it," she said with a grin.

"Who said I'll be acting?" Melinda muttered, following her up to the dormitory.

The chatter died down instantly as they walked into the room.

"Finally! What took you two so long?" Anna asked, a fake smile on her face.

"We argued about it... Melinda thinks that I cheated," Ginny said with a shrug.

"What happened?" Maya asked eagerly.

"She kissed her brothers on the cheek," Melinda said, glaring at Ginny.

"You met your brothers first?" Grace squealed.

"You wanted Ginny to kiss her brothers?" Anna asked Melinda, an evil and triumphant look on her face.

Grace and Maya squealed in disgust, laughing.

"Maya, truth or dare?" Ginny asked, stopping the laughter.

"Truth," Maya said quickly.

"Who do you like?" Ginny asked, smirking at her.

Maya blushed and shook her head.

"I ... I don't like anyone," Maya said.

"You obviously don't know the wizarding consequences for this game, or else you wouldn't be lying," Ginny said, smirking again.

"What consequences?" Maya asked suspiciously.

"Answer the question truthfully, or else you'll find out," she replied.

"Dean Thomas," Maya mumbled. "Anna, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Anna said with a grin.

"Who do you like?" Maya asked eagerly.

Ginny felt like tearing her hair out. If they didn't think of something interesting to ask soon, she was going to go down to the Common Room again, screw the blackmail opportunities!

"Lee Jordan's cute," Anna said, her entire face turning bright red.

Ginny laughed, turning it into a giggle when they looked at her. Grace and Maya joined in the giggling, Anna crossing her arms and looking upset.

"You don't have to be rude and laugh about it," Anna said, pouting.

They continued to giggle, Melinda joining in, the look on Anna's face the cause of her laughter.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, then I'm going to bed," Anna said with a sniff.

"Oh, don't be like that, Ann!" Grace said, stifling her laughter.

Maya quickly stopped laughing, Ginevra and Melinda stopping after a moment longer.

"Yeah, Anna. Don't go to bed already!" Maya agreed.

"Well, all right then..." Anna said, all smiles now that the attention was on her and they weren't laughing. "Grace, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Grace said again.

"I dare you to tell us who you like," Anna said with a laugh. "Don't think you're getting out of it that easily!"

"Can that be counted as a dare?" Grace asked in confusion, blushing.

"I think so," Maya said, shrugging.

"Now, confess!" Anna said, smirking at Grace.

"All right! I like Robert from Hufflepuff," she said quietly. "He's with us for Herbology," she added.

"You like someone from Hufflepuff?" Anna squealed, laughing.

"Well, it's not like I like someone from Slytherin! At least the people in Hufflepuff are kind!" Grace said quickly.

"True," Maya said with a nod.

"All right... I guess we can forgive you then," Anna said with a grin.

Ginevra stayed silent, as did Melinda, she noted.

"Talking about guys in Hufflepuff, has anyone seen Cedric Diggory?" Maya asked, practically swooning.

"Yeah! Talk about hot!" Anna said, almost drooling.

The talk turned to Cedric Diggory and Ginny listened intently to gather information about him.

"They say that he's got the best eyes, and not just to find the Snitch with either!" Maya said, giggling.

"He's supposed to have been with at least ten girls in Hufflepuff," Anna said.

"Been with?" Grace asked with a frown.

"You know ... Had _sex_ with," Maya explained, lowering her voice and looking around suspiciously.

"Oh!" Grace said, going bright red and giggling.

As the talk turned to makeup and other stupid Muggle things, Ginevra tuned out, listening occassionally and fervently wishing that she was in the Room of Requirement with the others instead of here...

A high pitched giggle brought her out of her thoughts abruptly and Ginny suppressed a glare at Anna.

The talk had now turned to Hogsmeade and loud wishes that they were able to go. Which soon turned to how unfair it was that first years weren't able to try out for Quidditch.

"Harry got in last year. He was the youngest Seeker in a century," Ginny said, almost automatically.

"He's cute too!" Anna said, giggling over her eighth Butterbeer.

Again, the talk turned to which boy was cutest, this time out of the Quidditch teams.

_Don't kill them, don't kill them, don't kill them_, Ginevra repeated to herself. _Don't kill yourself out of mercy or pity_, she added as one of the three giggled again.

Melinda looked on the verge of hurting them too, so Ginevra coughed slightly to get the other girls to stop laughing.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to bed. It's almost midnight," she said.

"Oh, already?" Grace said, pouting.

"Yes... Goodnight!" she replied, hurrying over to her bed.

Minutes after she'd got into bed, Ginevra heard Melinda excuse herself too.

Ginevra shut her curtains, wishing that she knew a silencing spell.

The other three girls stayed up well past two o'clock, their loud noise and giggles keeping Ginevra and Melinda up too.

...

End of seventh chapter!

...


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, please don't sue me!

(a/n: I hope that you all enjoy the chapter. Read on, oh faithful ones!)

...

Chapter Eight

...

Halloween arrived with the usual eagerness, overly bright decorations and too much talk about clothing for any sane person to handle.

Ginevra sat in the Room of Requirement, Luna, Melinda, Colin, Padma and Parvati around her, discussing everything from their hatred of the Trio, to the idiocy of Lavender and her fashion sense. Tom's diary lay open beside them, the six of them writing to him every so often.

"I can't wait for tonight. I'm going to make sure that Lavender doesn't come. I don't want to put up with her _tonight_ of all nights," Parvati said with a groan at the thought.

"I can't wait until I don't have to act all love sick in front of Potter," Ginevra said in disgust.

"I can't believe that Potter is actually going to the Deathday Party," Melinda said, laughing.

"How many times do you think you can say Potter's name in a sentence before he thinks you're in love with him?" Ginevra asked, smirking at Colin.

"I don't think he's listening to what I actually say anymore, but I'll try it at lunch, just to piss him off," Colin said with a grin.

"Do you think they know what Nick's serving at his party?" Melinda asked with a smirk.

"They probably weren't smart enough to suggest maggots and mouldy food like we did!" Padma and Parvati replied, smirking in return.

"Why did you do that?" Millicent asked with a frown.

"We made up some shit about making it increase the flavours in the food so the ghosts can almost taste it," they said, shrugging. "The main thing is he bought it and the Trio won't be eating for the entire night if we have anything to say about it," the twins said evilly.

"Am I able to assist you?" Tom asked.

"Tom!" Ginevra said in surprise.

She looked to the open book, then to him and back again.

"I do apologise. I had to borrow some spirit from each of you in order to do this, but I did not take much, as it is All Hallow's Eve and I am much stronger at this time," he said charmingly, a smirk on his face.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, our Dark Lord," Ginevra said, bowing her head with a smirk.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all outside of the diary," Tom said, smiling at them all.

"Would you like to meet the others?" Parvati asked.

"Or perhaps a tour?" Padma suggested.

"They both sound delightful. May I borrow someone's wand? I cannot be seen like this, I am sure that one of the teaching staff will recognise me," Tom said, taking Ginevra's offered wand.

"Dumbledore is the most likely candidate for that," Melinda muttered.

"Indeed... We shall just have to stay clear of him then," Tom said, now a blonde-haired, brown eyed boy, just as anonymous looking as the rest of the student population. "Shall we go then?" he asked, grinning.

Melinda hurried to open the doors and they left, showing him the old, as well as the newer parts of the castle.

"Just a moment. I would like to see the Slytherin Common Room, if you do not mind. I was quite fond of it while I was here, and am eager to see if there are any large changes," Tom said.

"Hopefully they haven't changed the password since last time," Ginevra muttered, heading down to the dungeons.

They passed a black velvet-draped corridor, Sir Nick's voice floating out from inside of the room.

"_The candles have to be black! It is my Deathday! Peeves, you need to be on your best behaviour_!" he said sternly.

Peeves blew a raspberry, threw some chalk at Nick then flew through a wall, cackling loudly.

"I see that Peeves is just as troublesome as ever," Tom said with a smirk. "He's very loyal if you know how to handle him right, keep that in mind," he said quietly.

"Of course," Ginevra said with a small nod.

They stopped in front of a bare wall and Ginevra nodded to Melinda to say the password.

"_Basilisk_," Melinda said clearly.

Thankfully the concealed door slid open and they walked inside, stopping over at the carved chairs near the fireplace. No one said anything to stop them, one boy just went to get Draco and the others for them. Tom looked around the room for a moment, surveying the differences and similarities that had occured over the past fifty years.

"Has anything changed?" Parvati asked with a grin.

"Of course. It has been fifty years after all," Tom said charmingly. "I am quite surprised at a few changes, though... There used to be a very convenient entrance to ... a different place," he said, aware that other Slytherins were listening.

Draco arrived with Blaise and Pansy. Gregory, Theodore, Vincent and Millicent followed them in after a few seconds.

"It's definitely a surprise to see you lot in here," Draco drawled, smirking at them. "Who's your friend, and why is he in the _Slytherin_ Common Room?" he asked, hiding his glare.

"You do not recognise your Lord?" Tom asked with a smirk, taking the spell off.

Draco's eyes widened in surprise.

"My Lord. I apologise," he said stiffly.

"It is quite all right, Draco," Tom said smirking again. "Do you trust all that are in this room?" he asked Draco softly, eyeing the group of students by the fire.

"You lot! Clear out of here!" Draco snarled at them.

The students gave him the finger when he turned his back, but they all hurried down to their dorms anyway.

"They'll pay for that," Blaise muttered to Ginevra, who nodded in agreement.

"We'll get them later, once Tom has left," she said out of the corner of her mouth.

Tom made sure that no other people were listening in with a quick spell, then started over to the fireplace. With another spell he dowsed the fire, then touched the wand to one of the curled snake designs on the right-hand side of the mantlepiece.

The snake slowly uncurled itself, then slithered its way to the left end of the mantlepiece, before sliding back to the right and resuming its curled position. Without a sound, the entire mantlepiece moved back into the wall and slid off to a large slit in the left.

"Light your wands and follow me quickly," Tom said, sounding pleased that the hideaway was still there.

Doing as he said, they all followed him, holding their wands in front of them carefully. Tom seemed to be following a particular route, one that they forgot after the sixth turn. They passed a few empty rooms, but didn't go into them. After a few more turns, the brick walls ended and they had to almost crawl through a small tunnel that looked a lot like a pipe. This pipe didn't go for very long, and soon opened up into a larger one. They carefully walked along slimy tunnel, arriving in a dark slimy tunnel.

As they walked along the tunnel, Ginevra heard the crunch of animal bones beneath their feet and then she saw the giant snake skin. She looked at Tom in amazement.

"We're in it, aren't we? We're in the Chamber," she said, grinning broadly.

"We have almost arrived in the Chamber. Very good observation," Tom said, inclining his head.

Ginevra looked around the small tunnel, then followed Tom and the others further down the tunnel. Eager to finally ee what the Chamber looked like, Ginevra tried to contain her excitement. She looked at Melinda and saw that she was just as excited as she felt. They grinned at each other and held hands, squeezing every so often so that they wouldn't run ahead of the others.

After yet another bend, the tunnel finally ended and they faced a solid wall where two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with glimmering emeralds. Ginevra could almost feel the magic surrounding just these two snakes alone, and watched as Tom stepped forward. He opened his mouth, then closed it and looked over his shoulder straight at her.

"Ginevra... You have been practising, I hope?" he asked, a smirk settled on his handsome face.

"Yes, my Lord," Ginevra responded with a grin.

"Excellent. _You_ may open the Chamber," Tom said, stepping back and indicating for her to proceed.

Ginevra stepped forward, almost mesmerised by the emeralds. Without really thinking on it, she opened her mouth.

"_Open_," she hissed.

The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid out of sight and everyone looked at Ginevra in surprise.

Pansy sent her a look that clearly said she had some explaining to do, then they all followed Tom into the Chamber.

The chamber was dimly lit, the few sconces on the walls flickering indignantly at their intrusion. Stone pillars rose up into the dark ceiling, snakes entwined around each of them protectively. The pillars cast long shadows across the greenish gloom that filled the chamber.

They walked down the long chamber slowly, awed at everything, even when it seemed like the snakes were watching them, moving along each pillar to follow them... They stopped before the last two pillars, craning their necks to look at the statue before them.

The statue had a giant and ancient face, with a long beard that almost ended at the statue's stone robes. Two enormous feet stood on the smooth chamber floor. Tom stood there, looking up at his ancestor with pride, before turning to face them.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets. The statue behind me is of the great Salazar Slytherin. He built this place and kept it a secret from the other founders. There are some who believed it to just be a rumour, a myth, a legend, but you now know the truth of it. He told his first born son, who then told his son, and so it went on until the secret reached me via other means. This Chamber is part of my heritage and belongs to me now, as Salazar's heir," Tom said, pride in his voice.

He turned to the statue again, saying a few words in Parseltongue.

"_Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four,_" he hissed at the statue. "Close your eyes, until I tell you otherwise," Tom instructed them.

As the mouth of Salazar Slytherin opened wider, they all shut their eyes quickly. They heard a loud thump as something fell from the mouth onto the cold ground. Tom hissed again, and they could only listen as something slithered across the floor towards them.

"Put your arms out, with your palms facing forward," Tom instructed softly.

They did as he said, and felt the leathery touch of the Basilisk beneath their hands as it slid past them. Ginevra caressed the Basilisk fondly, remembering the tales Tom had told her about it.

Tom hissed again, and the Basilisk returned to Salazar's mouth, curling up and around the statue with practiced ease.

"You may open your eyes again," he said to them, smiling. "If I may, I would like you to listen to something I have to tell you, and then decide if you would like to do something for me tonight..."

They nodded consent quickly, and with a charming smile, Tom began.

"Fifty years ago, I was a student here... Another event happened at that time - the Chamber of Secrets was opened and a student was killed. Another student was blamed for the crime, and despite his protests, Rubeus Hagrid was sentenced and his wand was taken from him..." Tom said.

Ginevra looked at Parvati and Melinda in surprise. They'd all seen Hagrid's pink umbrella, and now they were certain of what he was hiding in it as well...

"The Basilisk and I were the ones that killed her. Quite by accident of course, the stupid girl had no sense to lower her eyes while in the presence of the Basilisk... Most likely a Hufflepuff," he sneered.

"What would you like us to do?" Draco asked as Tom was silent.

"I want the Basilisk to return to Hogwarts... We will remind them of their place," Tom said, a glare on his face. "This place has become _soft_ without an enforcing Slytherin present. We will show them that the heir of Slytherin still lives!"

"You want us to get someone to look at the Basilisk? I've got the perfect person in mind," Parvati sneered, thinking of how much she wouldn't miss Lavender's annoying voice...

"Your enthusiasm is encouraging," Tom said with a smile. "However, it would not do to have Hogwarts close... Even after so long, the teachers are still afraid of what they do not know of, and the return of the killer Basilisk will ensure a quick closure of the school. I need Hogwarts to be open so I can complete my work," Tom said.

"So you want to Petrify someone?" Padma asked.

"Very good," Tom said with a smile. "You may choose who is Petrified... I must return to the diary now. The way out is marked for you. Touch the left," he managed to say before fading into the diary.

"Can we Petrify Lavender?" Parvati asked eagerly.

"Do you think you could handle having to be in the hospital to see her every day? And crying at the mere mention of her name, or anything related to the Chamber?" Pansy asked. "That's what they expect from you after all, isn't it?"

"Damn!" Parvati said angrily, then sighed reluctantly. "Fine... How about we go for Mrs. Norris then?" she said with a smirk.

"Or Filch himself," Padma said, grinning.

"I vote for getting out of here and getting some food... I'm starving!" Gregory said.

"And _you_, Miss Weasley," Pansy said, smirking at Ginevra, "have some explaining to do!"

"Don't call me that," Ginevra muttered, all of them knowing how she hated it when she was referred to by her last name.

Blaise whispered to Draco, whose face went cold and hard.

"Do you know who they were?" Draco asked.

Blaise nodded in reply, smirking when Draco turned and made his way back to the pipe and the Slytherin Common Room.

"Why didn't you just let us handle it by ourselves?" Ginevra asked Blaise as they all followed Draco quickly.

"It looks better for Draco if he deals with his own problems, and not his friends... Besides, I love watching him when he gets angry at other people," Blaise said with a wink.

They followed the markings Tom had left - small fire scorches on the wall that were easy to miss if they weren't being looked for. They turned into arrows when a wand was touched to them, and so they returned to the Slytherin Common Room faster than they would have otherwise.

Draco touched his wand to the snake on the left side of the fireplace. Soundlessly, it moved towards them, then into the side. Draco doused the fire and they hurried out into the Common Room, removing the dirt, soot and dampness from their clothes with simple spells.

The Common Room wasn't empty, but even though they were being stared at, not one said a thing.

"Out," Draco said.

Everyone went to leave quickly, scared at the looks in their eyes.

"Wait," he commanded and they stopped, turning to look at him.

Draco looked to Ginevra and Blaise, who were both glaring at the three people.

"You three, step forward," he snarled at them.

The two boys and girl paled. Their eyes hardened and with a glare, they stepped forward. Without so much as a pitying glance in their direction, the others left quickly.

Ginvera smirked and watched Draco look at the three with cold eyes.

"Do you know what you're here for?" he asked, sounding much older than his age.

They nodded briefly, their eyes still not connecting with his.

"If you apologise, would you mean it?" he asked, smirking at them now.

"No," they replied.

Draco raised an eyebrow, while Ginevra and Blaise refrained from hexing them.

"And why not?"

"You're just a second year. We don't have to take orders from you, no matter who you are!" one of the boys hissed.

"Of course not... I'm just a second year, am I?" Draco asked, smirking evilly. "Marcus!" he called.

From the shadows, Marcus Flint stepped out, an evil smirk on his face.

"You have duelled against every student in Slytherin, have you not?" Draco asked Marcus, still looking at them.

"Of course. House requirements," Flint said with a smirk.

"Has anyone beaten you?"

"From Slytherin? Only three this year," Marcus replied.

"These three?" Draco asked, staring at them coldly.

"They all failed within the second round. A _first_ year got to the third round," Marcus sneered, leering at them.

"Who were the three that beat you?"

"Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and yourself," Marcus replied.

The two boys and girl paled in shock. _These three second years had managed to get to round five _and_ beat Marcus Flint_?!

"Would you apologise and mean it now?" Draco asked with a sneer.

"Yes!" they said quickly, still in shock.

"Of _course_ you would," he said offhandedly. "Marcus, get everyone ready. A duel will be taking place," Draco said with another smirk.

Marcus smirked at them, then melted back into the shadows and down to the dormitories.

"Ginevra, Colin and Melinda. Step forward," Draco said.

They did so quickly, smirking at the three older students.

"You will be duelling these three to teach them a lesson," Draco said calmly.

The three Slytherin's smirked at each other, as did the three Gryffindor's.

"Pansy, Blaise. Set up the duelling area," Draco instructed.

With nods, they both started moving items out of the way, creating a long narrow area. Ginevra, Colin and Melinda went over to one side, as the other three went to the opposite side, their wands ready.

As everyone came into the Common Room and saw that Marcus had been telling the truth, a bet immediately started on who would win. Everyone seated themselves around the duelling area and waited expectantly.

Marcus stepped forward, smirking at the Slytherins' and Gryffindors' alike.

"You all know the rules... Let the duel begin!" he said, shooting up two green lights with his wand.

Melinda shot a disarming spell at the girl, who was immediately thrown back, her wand flying off to the side. Disgruntled and glaring, the girl left the duelling area.

The two boys quickly put up shields and started to throw hexes at the three Gryffindors', who dodged them and looked to Marcus.

"No shields!" he called and the two boys reluctantly removed them.

Colin started with a few basic disarming charms, but the boy dodged them, sending back his own. Colin barely managed to dodge them. He threw a Jellylegs hex at the boy, who didn't manage to dodge it this time. He fell to the floor, his legs unable to support him. Pissed off, the boy reversed the spell and threw another hex at Colin before he could be disarmed. Colin dodged it, sending another Jellylegs at him. This time the boy dodged it, but he was then hit by a disarming spell from Melinda. He left, glaring and just as pissed off as the girl had been.

Before he had time to react, Ginevra hexed the last boy, firing one shot after another out of her wand. She hit him with Petrificus Totalus, then reversed it quickly and disarmed him, just as Melinda disarmed the other boy.

"Gryffindor wins!" Marcus said.

"I do hope that you have all learned your lesson," Ginevra drawled, smirking at the three.

"Congratulations," Draco said to Ginevra, Colin and Melinda.

"You're ready for tonight, I presume?" Pansy asked with a smirk.

"I've got a lovely perfume for Lavender. It'll put her to sleep as soon as she puts it on," Parvati said, smirking.

"We'll be able to sit with you, then," Fred and George said through Padma, kissing Parvati.

"Do you think I could borrow that perfume for our dorm mates?" Melinda asked once they'd pulled apart, long after Fred and George had left.

"Good idea," Ginevra said with a grin.

"We can put them into smaller bottles and pretend they're presents," Padma suggested. "Put one on every bed in your dorm," she said to Ginevra and Melinda," and one on yours and Lavender's," she said to her twin. "That way no one will get suspicious of you."

"Good idea, dearest sister... I might go do that now," Parvati said, leaving with Ginevra and Melinda.

"I should go get ready too," Colin said and left, Luna and Padma close behind him.

**...**

The hour of the All Hallow's Eve approached, and Ginevra was anxious for the trio to leave so she could go too. At seven o'clock, the trio left the Common Room, going down to the dungeons.

"Finally!" Ginevra muttered loudly.

Fred, George, Lee, Colin, Neville, Melinda and Parvati smirked at her, just as relieved as she was.

Due to the perfume Anna, Grace and Maya were all asleep in the dorm, barely half-dressed. Lavender, on the other hand, had changed completely before putting the perfume on. She had almost drenched herself in the liquid, and Parvati was hopeful that she wouldn't wake up until lunch the next day.

They all left the Common Room cautiously, just in case the Trio had lingered around the Great Hall. Not seeing them, Ginevra and the others hurried into the Great Hall, seeing the gold plates and candles shimmering brightly. Hagrid's pumpkins had been carved into jack o'lanterns, smiling eerily at everyone as they floated above the tables.

All of the teachers stood before the tables, greeting the students cheerfully. Well, _almost_ all of them were being cheerful.

Ginevra went over to Severus, who was looking as happy as the Bloody Baron.

"Professor Snape, nice to see that you've washed your hair sometime this century," she said with a smirk.

Fred and George draped their arms around each other as well as Parvati and Padma, smirking at anyone who looked in their direction, daring them to say something.

"Ginevra. A pleasant surprise to see you somewhere other than at the back of Mr. Potter's heels," Snape sneered.

"The pleasure is all mine," Ginevra replied, smirking again. "It is a surprise that you are not in your Potions room, cursing the student population to the Otherworld," she replied.

"It might work. This is All Hallow's Eve, after all," he said with a smirk.

"Have fun, Severus," Ginevra said with a wink, heading over to the Slytherins.

"Ginevra. Where is Potter?" Draco asked, smirking at her.

"Severus already beat you to it, dearest Draco. _So_ sorry to ruin your night," Ginevra drawled as she sat between Draco and Blaise.

No one in the Great Hall said a thing against it. In fact, they all just continued chattering away to each other, completely oblivious to the youngest Weasley...

"Your attention, please!" Dumbledore called out, smiling at everyone as they went silent and looked at him. "Happy Halloween! Enjoy your night!" he called, food appearing on the tables with a wave of his hands.

"Gods, how dramatic does the fool want to act?" Pansy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"My dearest Pansy, whoever said he was _acting_?" Luna asked with a smirk, sitting next to her.

"True, but I don't think I could take it if he really was that idiotic! He runs our school, for the gods' sakes," she muttered.

"A scary thought, don't you think?" Millicent asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Very scary," Vincent said with a shudder.

Ginevra shook her head at them, bringing out the diary.

'Hello, Tom.'

_Ginevra, a pleasure to hear from you so soon. I presume that the Trio is at Sir Nick's Deathday party?_ Tom asked.

'Indeed. We are hoping that they will not leave early and return here.'

_I doubt they will. Gryffindor's have a very predicatble attitude when it comes to promises. No offence, my dear._

'None is taken. When would you like me to leave?'

_As soon as you have finished eating. You will need all of the nourishment you can get in order to survive tonight without your brother or his friends becoming suspicious of you_, Tom replied.

'I will write you again when I have finished. See you later, Tom.'

_Enjoy your meal..._

Draco looked to Ginevra, who gave a slight nod.

"Once I'm done eating. Give me about fifteen minutes. You remember where to go?" Ginevra asked.

"Of course we do. Just relax, and enjoy your meal, as he said," Blaise whispered in her ear.

Ginevra smirked at them, then began to do exactly that...

**...**

Ginevra went into Myrtle's bathroom, water already starting to flood the floor.

"Spotty, spotty!" Peeves called, taunting her.

"The Bloody Baron has been calling you, Peeves," Ginevra said quietly, her head lowered.

Even if he did try to see who she was, Ginevra had done a slight Glamour in order to change her appearance.

Peeves left, not willing to risk the Baron's temper if she was telling the truth.

Myrtle didn't hear a thing, her moaning, wailing and crying becoming louder with every second that passed. She went further down the pipe, eventually leaving and moaning her way down to the lake, the bathroom she left behind flooding further still.

Ginevra hissed at the tap in Parseltongue, then wrote to Tom, telling him that she was in the bathroom.

_Good work, my dear. Wait a moment and I shall take over from here..._ Tom replied.

Ginevra waited, and in a few seconds, she felt Tom inside of her. She seemed to watch herself hiss into the pipe, the Basilisk rising out and into the bathroom, its eyes closed. Hissing again, Ginevra watched as the Basilisk dropped a headless rooster.

"_You were good not to eat it. I will treat you later for it,_" Tom hissed.

Walking out of the bathroom, Tom used the dead rooster's blood to write a message on the wall.

Hearing a noise, Tom swirled around to see Mrs. Norris, hissing at him. He hissed at the Basilisk, who opened his eyes, looking at the cat. Almost as if on some animal instinct, Mrs. Norris looked down at the water. The reflection of the Basilisk's yellow eyes Petrified her and she went stiff.

Tom finished the message, then returned the Basilisk to the Chamber before returning himself to the diary, telling Ginevra that she could do whatever she wanted with the awful cat.

Smirking, Ginevra lifted Mrs. Norris and hung her from a nearby torch bracket.

Hearing the Basilisk slithering around in the pipes, Ginevra heard a rooster squawking faintly, the fear of being eaten muffling it. She left quickly, returning to the Gryffindor Tower before anyone could arrive and blame it on her...

**...**

(a/n: end of the eighth chapter! Thank you for reading; hope you enjoyed it.)

...


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter, don't hurt me.

(a/n: _Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones!_)

...

Chapter Nine

...

"Did you hear what happened?" Parvati asked Lavender at breakfast the next day.

"Yeah. I can't believe Harry did this! I forsaw the message, remember? But I just couldn't See who the culprit was," Lavender said.

Parvati rolled her eyes, but nodded enthusiastically when Lavender looked to her for confirmation.

Further down the table, Ginevra and Colin sniggered to each other, mimicking Lavender. Parvati tried to keep a straight face, but it was difficult when Colin went cross eyed and started poking his tongue out at her.

People went quiet, whispering to each other when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked in. Ginny and Colin immediately sobered up, as did Parvati.

Ginny had considered putting on make up to make herself look pale, but found that there was no need to. The events of the past day had worn her out, and she had not had much sleep due to the excitement and adrenalin.

Ron didn't even realise that Ginny was there, instead whispering to Harry and Hermione.

"The attack on Mrs. Norris was an unfortunate one. She will, however, be cured, so there is no need to be angry," Dumbledore announced at breakfast.

Filch's sobs almost drowned out his voice. After dinner, Filch immediately returned to the girl's bathroom, starting to pace restlessly and began to scrub at the message with little result.

Over the next few days, everyone talked of little else. Closet-cat lovers came out in the open, wanting revenge on the person who had done this to poor Mrs. Norris: Harry.

Ron eventually noticed how pale Ginevra was, and attempted to 'console' her.

"But you hadn't really got to know Mrs. Norris," he said bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her."

Ginny made her bottom lip tremble, as if she was about to cry.

"Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron continued. "They'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking," he added hastily when Ginny paled dramatically.

Hermione started reading relentlessly. Knowing that she was probably going to look for information about the Chamber of Secrets, Ginevra and her friends immediately started borrowing all of the Hogwarts: A History books. Within a few days, there was a very large space on the shelf, and Granger was getting so frustrated that they'd all been taken out that she was going to owl her parents to send her own copy.

Neville started talking to Justin Finch-Fletchley in Herbology, telling him things about Harry. Apparently, the next time Justin had seen Harry, he'd practically gone running off in the opposite direction.

Colin barely had time to see Harry to get in a few jabs of his own.

"Hiya, Harry!"

"Hullo, Colin," Harry said dully.

Colin hid a smirk, knowing that he was getting to him.

"Harry - Harry - a boy in my class has been saying you're - " Colin tried to finish talking, but the crowd was so thick that he was moved away almost instantly. "You're an idiot," Colin finished, laughing slightly, before trying to get out of the crowd and head over to the Room of Requirement.

...

Ginevra hurried from the library up to the Room of Requirement and knocked on the door. She was very late...

"You're late, Ginevra," Draco drawled when she walked in.

Ginevra raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked, smirking at him.

"Where were you?" Colin asked.

"I had to return the potion book to Madam Pince so she wouldn't do the Killing Curse on me for returning it late," Ginevra replied, sitting next to Melinda.

"How is the potion going?" Blaise asked Draco and the twins.

"It's going well. It will be done in time for the Easter holiday," Draco replied.

"Any side effects we should know about?" Pansy asked Ginevra, who had copied and memorised the spell.

"Side effects include headaches, head pains and intense dreams. It only lasts a few hours, so it'd probably be better if we took the potion at night," Ginevra suggested.

"Colin? Truth or dare?" Melinda asked, smirking at him.

"Truth," Colin replied, rolling his eyes.

"Why do you hate the Trio so much?" Melinda asked.

Everyone went quiet as they waited for him to answer.

"Granger's up herself and thinks she knows everything," Colin said, everyone cheering in agreement. "Weasley's an idiot who's jealous of Potter, but thinks that he'll get attention by being his friend," he said.

"Too true," Fred and George muttered.

"Potter ... Well, he's an idiot who wouldn't get the hint and die. He thinks that everyone is in love with him just because of a scar on his forehead. He thinks he should be pitied because he grew up with Muggles and he's just too damned lucky to be human. Bloody bastard," Colin muttered.

"He's also judgemental," Fred and George said.

"And he's so dumb that he gets Granger to do his work for him," Parvati and Padma said in disgust.

"He thinks he's so special because Dumbledore likes him," Blaise added.

"He thinks I'm a wimp because I left him in the Forbidden Forest," Draco muttered.

"Aw... Is poor Draco upset about what Princess Potter thinks of him?" Ginevra taunted, patting his head with a smirk.

"Princess Potter?" Neville said, laughing.

"They should be called the Girly Trio," Lee muttered, smirking.

Fred and George laughed, making Parvati and Padma laugh.

Millicent rolled her eyes and went over to Melinda.

"Potter also thinks he's so great just because he got to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a first year," Millicent said.

"He's an arse," Gregory muttered.

"He judges people on less than face value," Vincent added.

"Enough about Potter! I'm starting to feel nauseous!" Ginevra said.

"Lee, truth or dare?" Colin asked smirking at him.

"Dare," Lee muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I dare you to snog Melinda," he said, smirking again.

Lee smirked and pulled Melinda off the floor, kissing her passionately. He let her go and helped her down to the floor again, considering Melinda was feeling completely boneless.

"I'm jealous now," Colin said, pouting.

"Oh, all right... Stand up," Lee said.

Colin grinned and stood up. Lee kissed him hungrily. Melinda blushed as she watched them, her mouth open slightly.

"I think Melinda's starting to drool," Pansy muttered to Ginevra.

"We should probably leave," Ginevra said with a wink.

"Dinner's being served now anyway," Pansy replied.

Everyone left quietly, not disturbing Lee, Colin or Melinda.

...

Deciding to go to the kitchens instead of barging into the Great Hall, Neville and Luna walked along the corridors with Ginevra. She stopped suddenly and glared.

"Percy's over there. Let's follow him... I've still got to get back at him for forcing the Pepperup Potion into me," she muttered, going over to the shadows and following her brother.

They slipped into an empty classroom when Percy stopped and Ginevra almost crowed with joy when she heard him yell.

"RON!"

She was going to be able to get both of her brothers into trouble... This was going to be fun!

"That's a girls' bathroom! What were you-?" Percy asked, his shock preventing him from finishing his question.

"Just having a look around," Ron replied. "Clues, you know..."

"Get - away - from - there -" Percy said. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner..."

"Why shouldn't we be here? Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!" Ron said hotly.

"That's what I told Ginny, but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled; I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out..." Percy said

"Why'd he bring me into this?" Ginevra hissed angrily. "The reason he's never seen me so upset is because he never pays any attention to me," she grounded out, trying to keep her voice low.

"... All the first-years are thoroughly over-excited by this business -" Percy finished.

"You don't care about Ginny! You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy," Ron said.

"True. But then, he doesn't care about me either," Ginevra said, smirking at Neville and Luna.

"Five points from Gryffindor! And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work, or I'll write to Mum!"

They heard Percy striding past and waited for a few moments until the Trio had left too.

Talking to each other quietly, they headed down to the kitchens for dinner.

...

In the Common Room that night, Ginevra, Melinda and Colin sat near the Trio, who had sat as far away from Percy as possible, Ginevra noticed. When Ron blotted his homework, yet again, and tried to use his wand to remove the smudges, he lit the parchment on fire. Watching as he slammed his book closed, all three were shocked when Granger did the same.

The trio started whispering to each other, making it barely possible for Ginevra, Melinda and Colin to hear anything. They did manage to hear enough to get the gist of the conversation, whispering about it themselves.

"Ron thinks the Chamber's opened with a key... I'm so ashamed," Ginevra moaned quietly, shaking her head.

"Granger's talking about the Polyjuice potion," Melinda whispered a few minutes later.

"Wasn't that potion in the Moste Potente Potions book?" Colin asked.

"Lucky I returned it," Ginevra said with a grin.

"I better go before they notice I'm here," Colin whispered. "See you tomorrow," he said to Melinda with a wink.

Melinda went bright red and Ginevra laughed softly, muffling the sound with a pillow.

"We better leave too," Melinda said, still red.

Ginevra nodded and calmed herself before heading upstairs with Melinda.

"Wait. I want to check something," Ginevra whispered.

Melinda looked at her curiously when Ginevra took a marble out of her pocket. Tapping her wand to it, they both listened as voices filtered out of the marble.

"I don't like it," Anna said, a sniff accompanying her words.

"They're just friends, what's so wrong about that?" Maya asked.

"Ginny obviously stole Belinda away from us! She doesn't like us, so she's turning our friend against us!" Anna replied.

"My name is Melinda, you idiot," Melinda ground out, glaring.

"Well... They did take a long time after the truth or dare. Maybe Ginny was saying bad stuff about us to her?" Grace said.

"She probably jinxed Belinda into liking her!" Anna said.

"There's a spell like that?" Maya asked with a frown.

"Of course there is! There's a spell for everything, if you know where to look!" she replied.

"Okay... I think it's time to break up their little session," Ginevra muttered, tapping the marble again.

Melinda and Ginevra hurried up to their dormitory, opening the door. Immediately, the three girls went quiet, Grace and Maya at least having the dignity to look guilty.

"Oh, did we come at a bad time?" Ginny asked innocently.

"Not at all," Anna said, glaring slightly.

"Are you all as excited about the Quidditch match as I am?" Ginny asked, grinning at them.

"Lee commentates the matches, you know," Melinda said, grinning at Anna, who blushed.

"I can't wait to see Harry flying up there! He's the youngest player in a century, did you know that?" Ginny asked.

"Is he really?" Grace asked in surprise.

Anna glared at her, and Ginevra felt like rolling her eyes. Would she have said it if it wasn't true?

"Yep! I can't wait to try out for the team!" Ginny said eagerly.

"You're not that good at flying," Anna pointed out.

"Anna! That's such a rude thing to say!" Grace said, shocked.

"Don't worry... It's probably true. I'll just have to keep trying until I get better," Ginny said with a watery smile. "Uh. I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning," she said, pretending to be hurt.

"Good night," Grace and Maya said.

"See you tomorrow," Melinda said, glaring at Anna.

Ginevra shut the curtains around her bed changed into her pyjamas. Waiting until she heard the others going to their beds, Ginevra sniffed slightly, as if she was crying.

Making a mental note to make her eyes slightly puffy and her pillow wet, Ginevra pretended to cry for a while. Eventually, she heard the others snoring, and soon fell asleep herself.

...

(a/n: _end of the ninth chapter! Hope you enjoyed it; thanks for reading!_)

...


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter!

(a/n: _thanks to everyone for reviewing, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._)

...

Chapter Ten

...

Ginevra and Melinda sat in the library during lunch, attempting to finish their essays for Snape. They saw the Trio walk in, a note clutched in Granger's hand.

"_Moste Potente Potions?_" Pince said Granger suspiciously.

Ginevra could practically see the cogs turning in the librarian's mind. It was suspicious that two students would want the same Restricted book, and that the same teacher had signed for them.

"We should go now," Ginevra muttered to Melinda, who nodded and quickly packed her things.

They left the library just as Ron managed to wrench the note from Hermione's hand.

"We can finish the essays in the Common Room. I doubt they'll be back any time soon," Melinda said, Ginevra nodding in agreement.

They passed the girl's bathroom and saw Moaning Myrtle sitting on a basin.

"Hi Myrtle!" Ginny said, smiling at her.

"Why are you so happy?" Myrtle asked suspiciously, looking at her intently.

"So today's not a good day? I don't think you'd want to know, anyway," Ginny said, giving a slight shrug.

"What? Tell me! Is someone saying something about me?" Myrtle demanded.

"It was just something I heard Peeves saying. He said that Hermione called you _spotty_," Ginny said, giving her an innocent look.

Myrtle's eyes widened and she flew into the toilet with a moan, crying immediately.

Melinda smirked and shook her head at Ginevra before they hurried up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Colin and Lee pulled apart quickly, hearing the portrait open.

"Why aren't you at lunch?" Lee asked them.

"Same reason as you two," Ginevra said with a smirk.

"You're going to snog Melinda senseless?" Lee asked as he walked over, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Why not?" Ginevra said, dropping her things and pulling Melinda to her.

Ginevra kissed her, slightly surprised when she felt Melinda respond.

"Not bad for your first kiss," Melinda said, smirking at her.

"All right, Little Miss I've-only-kissed-two-guys," Ginevra drawled, trying to ignore the fact that her face was going red.

Lee laughed, then pulled Ginevra to him.

"You're not supposed to kiss our girlfriend without getting permission," he muttered, kissing her hotly.

"Lee! You had better let go of our sister, or we'll be forced to hex you into next week," Fred and George growled at him.

"Aww, are you two jealous?" Lee asked as he pulled away, smirking.

Melinda caught Ginevra before she fell, then grinned down at her.

"Don't worry, you're bones are still there," she said with a wink.

Ginevra gave a nod, still feeling boneless. She watched as Lee kissed her brothers, then stood up shakily.

"You're supposed to ask permission before you kiss my brothers," Ginevra said with a smirk.

"I think Colin's getting jealous of us, brother dearest," Fred said to George, grinning at the look on Colin's face.

"I'm jealous that Lee gets the both of you," Colin responded, smirking when their mouths fell open. "I'm going to lunch. Care to join me, Melinda dearest?" he asked, offering his arm to her.

Melinda laughed and took his arm, leaving the Common Room.

"We'll be upstairs... See you later, Ginevra!" Fred and George called, dragging Lee up to their dorm.

Ginevra looked at the now-empty Common Room, then flopped onto a couch with a sigh. _Her first kiss was with a girl. _She found that she wasn't too shocked about it. Ginevra shook her head and laughed softly, imagining what Molly would say if she knew...

...

Early Saturday morning, Ginevra and Melinda woke up, eagerly anticipating the upcoming Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match. They changed quickly and hurried down to the Common Room. Fred and George were waiting for them, having sent the team ahead a few minutes ago.

"We have to be quick. Potter might be down soon," Fred and George said.

"Is something wrong?" Ginevra asked with a frown.

"No, we just don't want to see the little shite this early in the morning!" Fred and George said cheerfully. "Remember who to cheer for this afternoon, right?" they asked seriously and quietly.

"Fine," Ginevra said with a sigh. "Slytherin against Gryffindor and I have to go for _Harry-bloody-Potter_," she muttered.

Colin came down the staircase, his eyes wide.

"Time to go," he muttered, practically pushing them out of the Common Room.

They left the Common Room mere seconds before Harry entered it. Fred and George hurried to the Great Hall, where the rest of the team were waiting. Ginevra, Colin and Melinda went to the Room of Requirement for food instead. They finished eating soon enough, then hurried to the Quidditch Pitch.

Colin immediately started taking photographs. Ginevra yelled to her brothers and they waved to her, grinning broadly. Melinda saw Lee over in the teachers' stand and waved to him.

The game started, and it was easy to see that something was wrong with one of the Bludgers. It flew directly at Harry, and didn't go to anyone else, despite Fred and George's efforts.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and the Bludger will kill him," Ginevra muttered to Colin, who grinned, taking pictures of Harry's frustrated face.

Soon enough, Wood called a time out. Glaring at the screaming and jeering fans, Ginevra held an Extendable Ear to her ear, Wood's voice floating out of it.

"We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"

Fred glared at him as George answered his question.

" ... twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger murdering Harry, Oliver," George said angrily. "Someone's fixed it - it won't leave Harry alone, it hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it," George said.

Ginevra could hear the question in his voice, and hurried over to Parvati, leaving the Extendable Ear with Melinda.

"Hi Parvati," Ginevra said with a bright smile.

"The robes are horrible. The scarlet doesn't even look like scarlet! More like an off-brown," Lavender was saying to Parvati, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"That's the mud, Lav," Parvati replied, then rolled her eyes as Lavender continued her rambling about the Gryffindor Quidditch robes. "Hi Ginevra. What do you need?" Parvati asked, seeing the question in her eyes.

"Have the Slytherins tampered with one of the Bludgers?" Ginevra asked quietly.

"Not that I know of. Padma's with Pansy and Blaise; they'd know," Parvati added, looking directly across the stands to her twin.

Padma turned her head at the same time, a frown flitting on her face as she understood what her sister wanted.

"Have any of the Slytherins tampered with one of the Bludgers?" Padma asked Pansy and Blaise.

"No way. Way too hard to do," Blaise said, shaking his head through the rain.

"It would take our entire House's combined power to do, and if we **did** do it, then we wouldn't be awake right now," Pansy said.

"They didn't do it," Parvati said to Ginevra.

"Didn't think so. Oh, they're getting started again," Ginevra said, watching as the Quidditch players rose into the air once more. "I'll see you later," she murmured quietly, Lavender now looking at Parvati.

"The rain really doesn't do anything for the Gryffidor robes either," Parvati said.

"Exactly what I thought. The colours get too dark and then it really looks horrible!" Lavender said, shaking her head.

"Harry went all macho and is flying without anyone protecting him," Melinda said gleefully.

They watched eagerly, but were crestfallen when the Snitch appeared by Draco's head without him noticing. Pansy and Blaise were screaming at him, but he couldn't hear them.

The Bludger smashed into Harry's side, a sickening crunch echoing as his arm broke. Ginevra barely watched as Harry sped towards Draco, towards the Snitch. She hurried to the teacher's stand and saw Gilderoy Lockhart sitting on the edge of the seats, looking depressed in the rain, and wishing he could be anywhere else.

"Professor? I think Harry might need your help. I read your books, and how you were able to mend broken bones. I'm sure that Harry broke his arm and I don't want him in pain," Ginevra said quietly, not even Albus noticing that she was there.

Lockhart barely looked at her, just nodded, his depressed air gone in an instant. His eyes shone as his mind came up with all of the Prophet's headlines: _Harry says that Lockhart is his favourite Professor after Gilderoy saves his life_.

Without a second thought, Lockhart rushed from the stands as Harry caught the Snitch and plummeted to the ground, the golden ball clutched in his hand.

Colin was only a second behind Lockhart, relentlessly clicking his camera away in Harry's face.

"I don't want a photo of this, Colin!" Harry said loudly, practically yelling at him.

"Like you can stop me," he muttered with a smirk, continuing to snap away at him.

"Lie back, Harry," Lockhart said soothingly, flashing a smile at the surrounding crowd. "It's a simple charm I've used countless of times."

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Potter whined, his teeth clenched.

"He should really, Professor," Wood said.

Ginevra glared at him.

"Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say," Wood continued to blow up Potter's ego.

Before they did anything regretful, like hex their Quidditch captain, Fred and George tried to wrestle the Bludger into a box.

"Better take the opportunity before someone else does it, Professor," Ginevra murmured in Lockhart's ear sweetly.

"Stand back," Lockhart said, rolling up his sleeves.

"No - don't - " Harry protested weakly.

As Lockhart did the spell, Ginevra grinned. Colin started taking even more photographs, intent on using them as Christmas presents for a certain group of Slytherins. Someone in the surrounding crowd gasped dramatically, and Harry opened his eyes.

"Ah. Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen," Lockhart said, sounding nervous. "But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind," he said, always the first to recover and rectify his career. "So, Harry, just toddle up to the Hospital Wing - ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, would you escort him? - and Madam Pomfrey will be able to - er - tidy you up a bit."

Ginevra had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing. She hoped she just looked sickened to anyone who happened to be watching.

Harry stood, an odd expression on his face. He breathed deeply and looked at his right arm, swaying slightly as he realised what had happened. Lockhart hadn't mended Harry's bones. He had removed them.

...

Fred and George went with the rest of the Gryffindor team to see how Harry was doing. Neither of them wanted to, but they had to so the rest of the team wouldn't get suspicious.

They informed Harry about Flint yelling at Malfoy - which was true, but not in the way they told him. Flint had just put on a show for the rest of spectators. He would laugh at Draco's expense later, and Draco would protest that he'd just let Harry win as ordered by his father. The order was the truth, but Draco wouldn't admit that he hadn't seen the Snitch.

Draco owled his father as soon as the match ended, informing him what had happened. Lucius congratulated his son, then told him to keep an eye out for house-elf magic. Dobby had been very drained during the times of the match, and had served luncheon with ironed hands.

...

"Ginevra, I'm not backing down on this! People are getting suspicious of us," Colin said, referring to Percy.

Percy had been keeping a closer eye on her ever since she'd walked in on him and Penelope. Ginevra was more than annoyed about it, and she could see Colin's point, but she didn't want to do what he was asking.

They were currently in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle was in the lake somewhere, and wasn't expected back for another few hours considering what Peeves had called her only twenty minutes ago.

"The Greenhouse has Mandrakes. We'll be able to revive him in time," Neville put in, ignoring the look Ginevra gave him.

"See? I'll be fine! And besides, this will be a perfect opportunity for you to act like the innocent bystander. A few tears about how much you'll miss me, and then Percy will eventually tire of it and leave you to go back to his beloved Penelope," Colin said, smirking at Ginevra.

"That's true," she murmured, then shook her head. "No, I won't, Colin."

"If you don't, then I'll follow you and do it myself!" Colin said, glaring at her angrily.

"You won't be able to look through your camera in time," Ginevra protested, then sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll get the Basilisk to Petrify you. I swear, if you don't live, I will bring you back just so I can kick your arse," she threatened seriously.

"You can try it. I'll be haunting your arse before you can!" Colin retorted with a laugh. "Now can we get going?"

"Fine. Neville, you should go back to the tower before Ron notices that you're not there," Ginevra said.

Neville nodded, hugged them both then left the girl's bathroom to go to the Gryffindor Tower.

"All right. I'll tell Tom what we're doing, then we can do this," Ginevra murmured, taking a quill from her bag and writing in the open diary in front of them.

"A very good idea, if I do say so myself. It will also encourage the Muggle-born myth," Tom said as soon as he came out of the diary.

"Thank you, my Lord," Colin said with a bow. He smirked at Ginevra triumphantly.

"We need to make it look legitimate. You can't just be walking around the castle after curfew without a good reason," Tom said.

"Potter was taken to the hospital wing. He's still there. I could pretend to be going there," Colin answered.

"With nothing but your camera? That just screams pervert," Ginevra replied, smirking when he shuddered.

"I'll get something from the kitchens then."

"Go do that. We'll meet you at the stairs leading to the hospital wing. Stay standing. It will be hard to explain if you were sitting down," Tom said.

Colin nodded, then left quickly.

"Shall we, my dear?" Tom asked Ginevra, offering her his arm.

She smiled and took his offered arm. As her hand touched Tom's, Ginevra felt a familiar push and pull at her mind. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the sensation disappeared.

Ginevra/Tom smirked. _This was always wonderful. To have this young mind and body at their disposal. Simply wonderful. They would be beautiful in time. No one would be able to resist them when they came of age_.

Ginevra blushed at the attention Tom was giving her. Tom smirked at her, running their hands over her body.

_It is true. Do not be ashamed of what you have to offer, my dear._

She simply nodded, not able to trust her voice.

_Let's get started_, Tom murmured, then started to hiss.

The pipe opened, and the Basilisk slithered out. They explained what was to happen, and after confirming it with the Basilisk, they left the bathroom.

...

Colin waited on the steps, holding the bunch of grapes he managed to get from the kitchens. It wasn't much, but anything larger would be too difficult to carry. Dropping the graphes, Colin held up his camera as he heard footsteps coming towards the staris.

A short warning whistle from Ginevra had him concentrating hard. He didn't want to drop his camera. His fingers were sweating, and his heart beat increased as fear gripped at him.

"Gin?" he called nervously.

"Calm down, Colin. It doesn't hurt," Tom/Ginevra said soothingly.

_A look of shock or surprise would be better though_, Ginevra mused.

_True, my dear_, Tom replied in approval.

"Try to look surprised. Keep the camera up!" they said sternly as Colin's hands started to drop.

"Sorry," Colin replied sheepishly.

Colin put the camera back to his face, and managed to open his mouth wide enough to seem scared. As he did, they hissed at the Basilisk to look at Colin. Almost tentatively, the Basilisk raised its head and opened its eyes.

In a second, Colin was Petrified, his frozen body falling to the stairs.

They hurried away quickly, the Basilisk slithering after them silently. In a matter of minutes, the Basilisk was back in the Chamber, Tom was in the diary, and Ginevra was using a passageway (courtesty of Fred and George) to get to the Gryffindor Tower without being noticed.

Ginevra held her breath as she waited outside of her dormitory. She listened carefully to make sure that no one was awake, then slipped inside silently, heading over to her bed. As she undid the spell and drew back the curtains, Melinda sat up and looked at her.

"Is Colin going to be all right?" Melinda asked quietly.

"Neville assures me that he will be when the Mandrakes are ready," Ginevra replied softly. "How did you know?"

"He left a note for Lee and I. He's had it planned for a while. Colin's intent on making Harry feel as miserable as possible, and is certain that Potter will feel guilty for treating him like he did," Melinda said with a slight smile.

"Well, Potter probably would feel that way. He's predictable like that," Ginevra murmured, changing into her pyjamas. "You'll be all right?" she asked Melinda as she got into her bed.

"I should be," Melinda replied quietly.

For the rest of the night, both girls lay awake. Ginevra was starting to feel guilty about letting Colin convince her to do it, while Melinda was worried what would happen if the Mandrakes didn't mature, or ran away. It wasn't all that rare to have Mandrakes disappear while they were teenagers. She hoped he would be all right...

...

End of tenth chapter!

Hope you enjoyed it.

...


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter!

(a/n: _thanks to everyone for reviewing, I appreciate it!_

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._)

...

Chapter Eleven

...

For weeks on end, all anyone could talk about was what had happened to Colin. Friends that he never knew he had came out of the woodworks, and the amount of presents beside his bed increased daily.

Fred and George were making a fortune by selling 'protective' amulets and talismans to not only Muggle-borns, but half-borns too. They managed to sell a few to some pureblood Hufflepuffs, who were scared witless, no matter what they were told about it only being Muggle attacks.

Hermione and Ron were suspiciously absent while Harry was in the hospital wing, and more than one person could confirm that they hadn't been in the hospital wing. Fred and George looked on the Marauder's Map, and found that Ron and Granger were in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

When they all met up in the Room of Requirement later that week, Draco explained of the diversion Potter created during Potions, and how Granger had taken something from Snape's personal ingredient cupboard.

Remembering that Hermione had taken the _Moste Potente Potions _book out from the library, Ginevra took out a scroll from her bag.

"What's that for?" Pansy asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I finished writing out the potion long before the book was due back, so I wrote out the contents and index of the book in case we needed anything else from it," Ginevra murmured.

"How will that help? As good as we are at Potions, we don't know all of the potion ingredients off by heart," Pansy said.

"I know that, Pansy," Ginevra replied. "I used a spell that Tom taught me. As long as I have the contents and index of the book, then I'll be able to recreate the entire book within another book. He used it while he was at school so no one would get suspicious of the books he borrowed," she muttered, laying out the parchment.

Pointing her wand at it, Ginevra managed to do the spell on the second try.

"It's the first time I've tried it," she said sheepishly when they all looked at her. "What ingredients are in Snape's cupboard that aren't in the student one?" Ginevra asked, expecting an answer from one of the Slytherins.

Surprisingly, it was Neville that answered. Fred and George voiced their answers after he'd finished.

"I've had enough detentions with him to know most of the ingredients off by heart," Neville said to their surprised looks.

"Same here," Fred and George said with smirks.

"So boomslang skin, bicorn horn, unicorn blood, as well as another ten separate ingredients. That can be any amount of potions," Draco muttered, taking the book from Ginevra.

"This is going to be fun," Pansy muttered sarcastically.

**...**

Five hours later, they were still searching for the potion. They were also falling asleep.

"I'm exhausted. Can we just keep looking tomorrow?" Neville asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Agreed," Fred and George chorused, leaning against each other and pretending to be asleep.

At least, Ginevra thought they were pretending...

"All right; we'll finish it tomorrow," she said, starting to feel tired herself.

"Thank the gods'!" Pansy muttered, yawning widely.

"I'm going to go visit Colin with Lee. We'll see you later, Gin," Melinda murmured, leaving with Lee quickly.

The others started to leave, Draco and Blaise staying behind with Ginevra.

"The mandrakes are still here and growing, Ginevra. You don't have to worry about Colin," Draco murmured.

Ginevra looked at him, surprised that they'd noticed. She had spent so much time trying to bury her worry for Colin, and had thought she was doing quite well. Obviously not.

"I know. Tom says that they'll be fully matured soon. We still have work to do, and Tom still wants to get to Potter himself. I'll miss him when he's gone," Ginevra said, grinning slightly.

"You love him, don't you?" Blaise asked, Draco watching her intently.

"What?" Ginevra asked in surprise.

"Tom. You love him," Draco said.

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. And for that, Ginevra had nothing. She simply nodded.

"Yet you don't completely trust him," Blaise murmured.

"You won't tell him about the twins," Draco added.

Ginevra looked at the ground for a moment before answering.

"He doesn't trust anyone. Tom loves no one apart from himself, so I could never completely trust him with those I care about. I trust him with myself, but not with my brothers. I can handle myself, but I couldn't handle it if something happened to them because of my mistakes," Ginevra said.

"So you do have Gryffindor qualities, afterall," Draco said, smirking.

"Traits are not limited to Houses, Draco," Ginevra muttered with a half-hearted glare.

"I am aware of that, _Ginevra_," Draco mocked.

"What he means to say is, you can trust us. Tom isn't untrustworthy because he's a Slytherin, and neither are we," Blaise murmured.

"I know," Ginevra said, nodding.

"Come on, Zabini. You're going to ruin our reputation. I've worked hard on it this past year, now stop being all mushy," Draco growled, hitting Blaise on the upside of the head.

"What reputation? The one where you're a whiny little bitch who can't do anything without Daddy's permission?" Blaise taunted, hitting him back.

"At least I know who my father is, you slut's bastard," Draco sneered.

"Leave my mother out of this!"

"Then leave my father out of it," Draco retorted.

Ginevra shook her head. _They were worse than Fred and George sometimes_...

"My room now; both of you, out!" she said cheerfully, pushing them to the door.

Blaise and Draco chuckled, then replaced their masks and left the Room of Requirement with no further encouragement.

After the door shut, Ginevra sighed softly, and returned to the _Moste Potente Potions _book.

**...**

Draco and Blaise returned a few hours later. They didn't seemed surprised to see her still awake and going through the book.

"Have you found the potion yet?" Draco asked.

"Have you even slept?" Blaise asked, frowning.

"I have eliminated eleven of the twenty potions," Ginevra replied. "And I managed a few hours sleep," she added, a yawn escaping her.

"Sleep now," they said in unison, taking the book from her.

Ginevra yawned again, curling onto her side. She slept without dreams, and let the blackness carry her through the night.

**...**

End of the eleventh chapter!

Hope you enjoyed it.

...


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

_Read on, oh faithful ones..._

...

_Chapter Twelve_

...

"Ginevra, wake up," she heard someone say as she was shaken out of her sleep.

"Go 'way," Ginevra muttered blearily, opening one eye to glare at the person.

Draco and Blaise just smirked at her, and shook her a bit more. Muttering, Ginevra sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Why'd you wake me up?" she asked, yawning widely.

"We've finished going through the book. We think we've found the potion," Draco said.

"Well, we've narrowed it down to five possible potions. We know that Snape wouldn't have some of the other ingredients in the open, even in his personal store," Blaise added.

"Excellent! What one do you think it is?" Ginevra asked, no longer tired.

"The Polyjuice Potion. It's the most logical potion out of the five that they would use," Blaise said.

"The Boiling Brew is logical too," Draco replied, his lips caught between a smirk and pout.

"What's the Polyjuice Potion do?"

"Changes someone into another person for a certain period of time," Blaise answered.

"And the Boiling Brew?" Ginevra asked, looking at Draco.

"Changes any type of liquid into alcohol."

"Well, we'd better keep that away from Seamus," she said, smirking. "But I doubt Goodie Granger would show that potion to the boys, so it'd probably be the Polyjuice one."

"You want to see the potion then?" Blaise asked, offering her the parchments.

Ginevra nodded, taking it from him. Scanning the list of ingredients, she frowned deeply.

"These are difficult ingredients to come by. Are they all available in Snape's store?" she asked, getting nods in response. "Well, we'd better warn him about it; I seriously doubt he'd like anyone to steal from him."

Draco and Blaise nodded once more, Draco's eyes flicking to the diary.

"What do we tell Tom?" he murmured.

"The truth... Just not the whole truth," Ginevra replied, a smirk on her lips.

"We can handle that," Blaise said, moving to the diary, Draco beside him.

Within seconds, they were all sucked into the diary. Tom watched them for a moment, looking impatient for their news.

"Step forward, Ginevra," he murmured, the impatience completely gone from his expression.

"My Lord," she said, curtsying after moving forward.

"What news do you have for me?"

"We have narrowed the potions down to three," Ginevra said.

"And?" Tom snapped, then he sighed softly and looked at her apologetically. "I am sorry I am so impatient; I am eager to leave this diary once and for all. Please, tell me what the potions are, perhaps I will be able to narrow it down for you."

"Of course, my Lord. The first is a potion to turn any liquid into wine; the second is a potion to change oneself into another; and the third is a potion to control another's thoughts," Ginevra said.

Tom nodded, looking thoughtful. He paced slightly, a frown on his face.

"It must be the last. By controlling your thoughts, they would be able to get any number of confessions from you. Pray, tell me, what is the name of this potion?" he asked, looking at them in turn. He expected the same answer from all of them at the same time - it seemed he was suspicious of them after all.

_Mentis_, the thought echoed through all of their minds, and they answered verbally at the same time.

"Very well. You should return now. Rest, you look tired, my dear," Tom murmured to Ginevra.

With another curtsy, she stepped back to Draco and Blaise, and they disappeared into a swirl of colour.

The diary sat on the ground in front of them, and if it was possible, Ginevra would have sworn that it was watching them. Shutting the diary with a snap, she shivered and quickly put it in her bag.

"Let's go tell the others," she murmured, standing up.

Draco and Blaise stood up on either side of her, moving to open the door for her. With a brief smile, Ginevra checked the corridor before leaving the room.

...

"Boo!" Fred and George yelled loudly, jumping out from behind a statue of Ulric the Oddball.

Ginevra only jumped and let out a screech because she was in the middle of the crowded corridor. Otherwise, she would have just rolled her eyes at them. They were covered in boils and fur, and all of this show was apparently an attempt to make her feel better about Colin still being in hospital.

Percy glared at his younger brothers over the heads of the younger students and made his way over to them. He saw the frightened look in Ginny's eyes and grabbed his brothers by the ears, pulling them towards an empty room and away from curious ears.

"You two stop this nonsense this instant. You're scaring Ginny witless!" Percy hissed, glaring at them. "She's having nightmares, you know... If you don't stop it I'll tell Mum," he added, crossing his arms over his chest.

Fred and George glanced at each other briefly, then looked to their older brother curiously.

"How do you know she's having nightmares?"

"Or that they're even about us?"

"They could be about exams," George offered.

"Gods' know, we've had that nightmare before..." Fred agreed with a nod.

"Or about McGonagall and Filch," George added.

"I never had that one," Fred said in feigned disgust, stepping away from his twin.

"Sure you did, the one where Filch was wearing a feather boa scarf and short skirt?"

Percy blanched, his freckles seeming to pop out of his face. His eyes scrunched tight, he shuddered as he tried to not think about what they were talking about. _Now he'd have nightmares for weeks_!

"No, mine was about McGonagall and Snape, remember? They were in the prefect's bathroom playing naked Quidditch underwater," Fred replied, his voice cracking slightly as he tried not to laugh.

"Oh, my God," Percy muttered, feeling sick to his stomach.

His face tinged a dark green, Percy ran from the room quickly and went straight past the prefect's bathroom to get to the next closest toilet. He wouldn't use the prefect's bathroom ever again.

"I think we scarred him for life, brother of mine," George said with an evil chuckle.

"Forget him, you scarred all of us. Did you have to think of them so vividly?" Ginevra asked, looking green herself as she stepped into the room.

Fred and George just laughed, even as their sister removed the boils and fur from their faces reluctantly.

...

"Would any of you students like to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas? I have the list here," McGonagall offered, producing a scroll.

Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately signed their names, glancing at each other when they heard Draco was staying over the holidays as well. Ginevra and her friends signed the list too, and McGonagall continued on to the Ravenclaw table.

...

"... starting a Duelling Club."

"Hope it's Flitwick."

"Maybe we all get to duel him?"

"What's going on?" Melinda asked Ginevra and Seamus quietly, only hearing bits and pieces of what everyone was talking about during lunch.

"I'll tell ye in a sec," Seamus said with a wink as he stood up and went over to the notice board outside of the Entrance Hall.

Dean followed his friend out, wondering what he was doing. A small crowd gathered with them, and Seamus and Dean beckoned for the Trio to come over when Seamus saw Ron's bright red hair.

"They're starting a Duelling Club! First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind duelling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days ... " Seamus said loud enough for Melinda and Ginevra to hear, grinning.

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" Ron asked, a sarcastic bite to his voice.

"It's on at eight tonight, reckon we might go, eh Seamus?" Dean said, grinning and somehow completely oblivious to Ron's tone.

"Yeah, you three comin'?" Seamus asked, his fist clenching as he tried to focus on the pain and not give in to the urge to punch Ron in the face.

"It might be a good opportunity," Hermione said pompously, glancing at Harry and Ron in what she probably thought was surreptitiously but in fact, was so obvious even Dean looked at them with a frown.

...

"I heard you're staying over Christmas too?" Luna asked Draco later that day while they were sitting in the library.

"Father told me to stay to help with Tom," he said with a brief nod. "Mother wasn't happy, of course, but I'm sure she'll survive one Christmas without me," he added with a smirk.

"But will poor widdle Drackie survive without his mummy?" Blaise asked, laughing heartily when Draco glared at him.

"You all coming to the Duelling Club tonight?" Padma asked.

"You really think I'd miss a chance to humiliate the Trio?" Draco asked, smirking again.

"Quiet, Pince is coming," Ginevra hissed softly, and they all went silent.

...

"I hope it's Professor Flitwick. Someone told me he was a duelling champion when he was younger," Hermione said, her voice rising as she attempted to show off how much she knew.

"Kill me now," Neville groaned into Ginevra's shoulder, whimpering.

"Not likely, Neville dear," she replied with a grin, patting his shoulder briefly.

"Let me go against Ron, all right?" Seamus said, glaring over at the red-headed boy.

"Ah, such anger," Fred said with a sigh.

"Such untapped potential," George added, sighing too.

Seamus didn't have time to respond, as Lockhart walked into the room then.

"Not Lockhart," Ginevra groaned softly. "Kill me now?" she asked Neville.

"Not likely, Ginevra dear," he said mockingly.

"Bastard," she muttered fondly.

"... Groups of two!" Lockhart called.

Seamus immediately went over to Ron, a grin on his face that promised the other boy pain.

Ginevra frowned slightly when she saw Hermione actively seek out Millicent.

Neville was paired with Justin Finch-Fletchey. Justin looked overconfident, and Ginevra hoped that Neville would teach him some humility.

She faced her own partner, a girl from Hufflepuff that she couldn't remember the name of.

"Ready? Go!" Lockhart called.

Uncertain hexes and spells flew through the room, no one entirely sure what they were supposed to be doing. Ginny's partner was in a Full Body Bind before she even had time to raise her wand. Bored, Ginny looked at her friends.

Seamus had been unable to block whatever spell Ron's malfunctioning wand had decided to send at him, and was on the floor with a grey-sooty colour to his face. She had no idea if he was sick or actually covered in soot. Her brother was holding him, apologising for whatever had happened.

Neville and Justin were on the floor panting, and Ginevra was pleased to see the confusion in the latter's face; he wouldn't underestimate Neville again.

Millicent had Hermione in a headlock, their wands on the floor as the bushy-haired girl tried to free herself unsuccessfully. Ever the hero, Harry jumped forward to free Hermione from Millicent's grip.

"Dear, dear," Lockhart said as he weaved his way through the students, instructing a few here and there.

Ginevra glared at him briefly. The man's stupidity knew no bounds, and she just hoped that it wasn't contagious. She was disgusted just being in the same room as him.

"I think I'd better teach you how to _block_ unfriendly spells. Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?" Lockhart asked, a big smile on his face.

_Volunteer usually means someone offers willingly, you idiot_! Ginevra thought, her fists clenched tightly. Her wand almost twitched in her hand, and she started to raise it.

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said, gliding over to stand in front of Ginevra. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Neville went red, biting his tongue to stop from laughing. _He did wonder how Snape knew what a matchbox was; wasn't that a predominantly Muggle object_?

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape suggested with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart said, ushering them into the middle of the Hall. "Now, Harry, when Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

Ginevra didn't know whether Lockhart was having an epileptic fit; his wand spasmed and wiggled in a very odd way - _it was no blocking spell she'd ever seen before_ - and then he dropped it.

_Don't fight Potter, Draco. He might throw his wand at you_! Seamus thought loudly, a laugh to his thought.

Ginevra bit her fist to stop her laughter from escaping and get her mind on something else. Neville moved towards her, seeming to have as much trouble as she was from keeping his laughter at bay.

"Whoops - my wand is a little over-excited."

Snape moved to Draco, whispering a Calming Spell to ease his laughter. Draco smirked.

"Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" Draco asked lowly.

_Of course you are_.

"You wish."

"Just do what I did, Harry!" Lockhart said, a little laugh to his tone as he clapped Harry on the shoulder.

"What, drop my wand?"

Ginevra laughed, covering it with a cough. Hermione looked at her with a frown, but neither Lockhart nor Harry noticed, so Ginevra didn't overly care.

Seconds later, a large black snake shot out of Draco's wand. People screamed loudly and hurried to move away. Ginevra tried to stay forward, and had to nudge a few people in the ribs when they stepped on her feet and gave her a headache with their screams.

"I'll get rid of it..." Snape said, knowing exactly what the show-off Professor would do in front of a room of impressionable students.

"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted predictably, stepping forward with his wand pointed at the snake. He gave the room a big smile that was supposed to be charming and reassuring.

Ginevra moved back now, her eyes widened.

There was a loud bang, and then the snake was slithering towards Justin, it's fangs bared as it raised itself. Harry, ever the hero, stepped forward and hissed. At his instruction, the snake stilled itself, docile as a lamb now. Harry looked up at Justin with a grin that was bigger than Lockhart's.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin yelled, leaving the Hall.

Whispers started, and Ginevra planted a few seeds of doubt in students' ears as Harry was pulled out of the Great Hall by Ron and Hermione moments after Snape made the snake disappear.

...

That night, Lee, Fred and George sat close to Ernie the Hufflepuff that night. He was Justin's best friend, and easily swayed by others' opinions.

"It's the mark of a Dark wizard, being a Parselmouth," Fred murmured, his voice just loud enough for Ernie to hear, but not his Housemates.

"I know; ever heard of a decent wizard who could talk to snakes? They called Salazar Slytherin 'Serpent-tongue'," George replied.

"The whole writing on the wall business wouldn't go down too well either, would it lads? _Enemies of the Heir beware_," Lee quoted, trying to keep the grin off his face.

"Especially not since he had that fight with Filch, and then Filch's cat got attacked," George replied with a serious nod.

"And Creevey annoying him at the Quidditch match; now he's in the hospital wing," Fred added with a nod.

"They never said _how_ Harry defeated You Know Who when he was a baby. Maybe he was a Dark wizard then too," Lee said.

They finished the rest of their dinner in silence, practically seeing the wheels in Ernie's head turning.

...

The next day, when the term's final Herbology class was cancelled because of the snow, Neville watched as Hermione yelled at Harry to go find Justin and explain what happened at the duelling club. Harry left a few moments later, and Neville slipped out after him without anyone else noticing.

Draco and Blaise met with him at Myrtle's bathroom not even five minutes later.

They'd discussed what they were going to do the night before. Justin was scared witless of Harry now, but he was a Hufflepuff and couldn't disregard a letter from Harry Potter himself. He was too polite for that. The letter had been sent after breakfast, when they'd heard Ernie telling Justin to lay low and avoid Harry.

Neville went to find Nearly Headless Nick while Draco used Tom to get the basilisk out of the Chamber, and Blaise searched for Peeves. Despite what Tom thought, killing someone wouldn't be of any use. Hogwarts would be closed, and they'd all be forced to go home. There was no one to pin the death on this time; Harry was golden to everyone, and Dumbledore wouldn't let it happen again.

"Sir Nick?"

"Yes, dear boy?" Nick asked pleasantly, smiling down at him.

"I just wanted to know how your Deathday party went? I heard that it was very entertaining," Neville said.

Sir Nick puffed himself up proudly. "Well, I was quite proud of it myself. The Headless Hunt were a bit rude, showing up the way they did, but there was enough of the party to salvage afterwards. It was a shame that young Mr. Potter and his friends left so suddenly, I thought that they could have at least tried the maggot-loaf. I had the house-elves make it specially; even got the maggots from my own dead body."

"How touching," Neville replied, trying to keep his face neutral. "Hey, Justin. How are you? Sir Nick and I were just talking about his deathday party," he said, smiling at the Hufflepuff.

Justin attempted a small smile, checking his watch quickly to make sure he had enough time before meeting Harry. "Oh, how was it, Sir Nick?"

"Wonderful, actually. The food was ghastly, and the band was miserable. It was absolutely dreadful; they'll be complaining about it for years to come!"

Neville was the only one who heard the slight cough, and he excused himself quietly. Draco was waiting for him behind the statue, the dark corridor and the shadows hiding them instantly.

Draco had given the basilisk her instructions, and she did as he said, rising and opening her eyes only when Justin was looking directly through Nearly Headless Nick.

Justin went stiff all of a sudden, falling back onto the floor, his eyes wide.

"What's the matter, boy? Did someone hex you and I didn't feel it go through my..." Nick asked as he turned to see.

The basilisk had no instructions for the ghost, and so looked at him with wide yellow eyes. Nick died again. Blaise was beside them less than thirty seconds later, all three looking at each other to avoid the basilisk's eyes as they led her back to the Chamber quickly.

They made it back to the corridor just as Harry tripped over Justin's Petrified body. Peeves came upon them moments later, yelling and screaming loud enough for every door in the corridor to open and students to pour out.

They joined the fray and confusion easily enough, Neville making his way to Ginevra, Melinda and the twins when he saw them together. Blaise and Draco stood to the side so they weren't as noticeable.

Everyone watched as Harry was marched away by McGonagall, Justin's body was taken to the infirmary, and Ernie fanned Sir Nick down after them.

...

_End of the twelfth chapter. Thank you for reading!_

...


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter or associated trademarks! Don't sue me!

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Thirteen

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't expelled. Ginevra spent most of her Christmas in the Room of Requirement with her friends, learning new spells, talking to Tom, and just generally lazing about. They got presents for each other, a scarf here or there, a book or three, chocolates from Honeydukes; all of it was shared between them, and they expected nothing less or more.

Ron hardly looked at Fred, George and Ginevra during the holidays, but it was better that way. They preferred to stay away from him, and if he looked too closely, even their thick-headed brother would have noticed that their faces had an unnatural glow from the amount of power they exuded. He would have noticed that they were answering unspoken questions, doing things for each other without being asked, and having hour-long conversations without saying a single word.

While it was all good and well enough for them to do this with so very few people around, it became that much harder when the school semester started once more, to keep their faces neutral, their mouths moving, and their conversations more animated.

It was worst for Ginevra, who chose Tom for her escape, staying further and longer each time. Soon, even Fred and George were beginning to worry for their sister, who they found curled up on the Common Room lounge nearly every morning, her mind still in the diary from the night before. She grew pale with every passing day, the lure of the dark magic too much to resist for very long.

Eventually, Draco and Blaise stepped in. They stole the diary from Ginevra when her brothers were forcing her to go to class rather than skip to talk with Tom as was becoming the norm. Not knowing what sort of hold Tom had over Ginevra, they didn't dare burn the diary, nor did they open it. They could see what had happened to their friend, and they knew that whatever was happening to her was not what any of the Dark Lord's inner circle had expected. So, with no Gryffindor courage, Hufflepuff's kindness, or Ravenclaw's curiosity to hold them back, Draco and Blaise threw the diary into the girl's toilets that Moaning Myrtle occupied.

...

Ginevra surveyed the room, her eyes narrowing on each item that she hadn't yet upturned. There were very few things to look at, really; even her roommates' belongings had been searched frantically for the diary.

"What did you do?" Anna screeched loudly.

Ginevra barely glanced at the girl, despite her shrill tone. She didn't bother to answer Anna, too busy trying to figure out where on earth the diary could be. _What if Tom was trying to get out of the diary? He needed her to get out, he needed her to talk to the Basilisk. Tom needed her, and she didn't know where the fuck his diary was_!

Realising that Anna was still screeching nonsense at her, Ginevra Stunned her. With a few well-placed spells, the room righted itself in a few minutes, Ginevra watching every single item return to its' original place in case she had missed the diary before.

_It wasn't there_. With a frustrated sound, Ginevra left the room, stepping over Anna on the floor.

...

"Eat something, Ginevra," Fred said, disrupting her thoughts that night.

"The diary will turn up soon," George added, his voice low.

She ate half of her food without tasting it. Her eyes scanned the Great Hall, although she didn't really expect the diary to be floating in mid-air with a large ribbon tied around it.

Over her head, Fred and George glanced at each other in worry. At least with Ginevra under Tom's control, she had been eating more. At this rate, she would waste away by the end of the year. Still, they decided it might take her a few days to get over Tom's hold, and they didn't tell her what they had helped Draco and Blaise do.

...

"That's it, Ginevra. I can't take it anymore!" Luna yelled, two nights later.

Ginevra looked up at her friend in surprise, wondering what she was talking about.

"You need to get over Tom. We all know how much you cared for him, but you need to start taking care of yourself! You've lost too much weight, you're obviously not sleeping, and Melinda told me that you've even started looking at _Harry_. That's the last straw."

Ginevra shot a glare at Melinda, who looked abashed but not ashamed or guilty.

"It's true," Melinda said, glaring back. "You have to admit it, you've started following him around more and more."

She looked away, not wanting to admit such a thing. Even if it was the truth. _Harry just looked so much like Tom, __**her**__ Tom. It wasn't fair_.

Getting up without a word, she left the Room of Requirement and headed to the Gryffindor Common Room.

_What did they know, anyway? They didn't have the same bond with Tom as __**she**__ did_.

As a force of habit, Ginevra closed the portrait behind her quietly and kept her footfalls silent as she headed into the Common Room. As it was past curfew, the Common Room was deserted. Heading to the stairs, Ginevra started to walk up to her room. There was a noise behind her, one that was far too familiar. Still quiet, she hurried back down the stairs to peer into the Common Room. Harry was sitting on one of the armchairs, beads of sweat rolling down his face. A small book was sitting on his lap. Ginevra held back her gasp and silently went up to her room before Harry could see her.

...

"I think I've found him," Ginevra murmured to Fred and George at breakfast.

"Found who, Gin?" they asked, buttering each other's toast.

"Tom," she said.

Their hands faltered and they hurried to bite into their toast before Ginevra could realise.

"You really fink so?" Fred asked around a mouthful.

"How do fou know thar?" George asked, food spraying from his mouth.

There was a disgusted cry from across the table and Lavender screamed shrill obscenities at them, her words too high pitched and jumbled together to make any sense.

The twins both ignored her, watching Ginevra and waiting for her answer. _Had she found out what they'd done? What they'd helped Draco and Blaise do_?

Lavender's disgusted cries and shrill noise had drawn too much attention, so Ginevra shook her head at them slightly. She could tell them later.

...

Her suspicions were confirmed on Valentine's Day, when Harry was accosted by a singing dwarf. His bag had ripped open right in front of her, and there on the floor, was her diary, her Tom. she stepped forward to get it, not caring who would see or stop her, but Draco snatched it off the floor before she could, teasing Potter about having a diary, and the Valentine she'd supposedly written for him (it was, in fact, written as a joint effort between the twins, and Draco and Blaise. Apparently excessive amounts of Butterbeer had been involved).

She'd gone red with anger, covering up her face in embarrassment about the thought of ever doing something so ridiculous. Her stomach churned and she started to feel nauseous. Now everyone in the bloody castle thought she was infatuated with Harry Potter! She wished she could discount the rumour for what it was, but she'd already spent so long trying to convince her roommates that she was in love with him, so it would most likely fall on deaf ears.

It didn't take Ginevra long to work out the appropriate spells to get past the wards leading to the boys dormitories. Neville and Seamus helped her get into their room without the other boys noticing, and from there, she tore the place apart.

Ginevra had only meant to look under a few things, maybe go through Potter's trunk, check under his pillow, the usual hiding places. But a frenzy had taken over her, and she **needed** to find Tom.

When Neville and Seamus opened the door fifteen minutes later, the mess they were faced with scared both of them, but that was nothing compared to the look on Ginevra's face.

Neither of them said a word as Ginevra left their room in a state of bliss, hugging the diary to her chest as if she would never let it go.

Her bliss was short-lived.

Tom was furious the moment she'd entered the diary. Against all of their wishes, she'd gone alone into the diary, and so not one of them knew what had happened, nor what had been said. The tears on her face were enough for them to know that it hadn't been the warm welcome she'd expected.

Despite everything they tried to say and do, Ginevra didn't say a word when she came out of the diary, and she left the Room of Requirement, looking far more hollow than she had before.

Draco and Blaise took Neville aside, instructing him to look after her.

With a grim nod of determination, he promised to do so.

...

Ginevra glowered at Percy. Apparently, he had been given orders by their mother to look after her, which he took far too seriously. He wouldn't leave her alone! She swore that he was waiting outside the bathroom when she came out, and he'd even taken to waiting at the bottom of the dormitory stairs to make sure she was leaving for her classes on time.

Fred and George offered to take care of him, but Ginevra declined. She would deal with him in her own way...

The following weekend saw the cancellation of the usual Friday Quidditch game. Ginevra smirked to herself, but didn't tell the others what she'd done until later that night.

The basilisk had been told to Petrify Penelope Clearwater, and the fact that Granger had been caught in the crossfire was an added bonus that had Draco grinning from ear to ear most of the night.

Not even Fred and George could bring themselves to care about the loss of the Quidditch game. It just meant they had more time to spend on other aspects of their life.

Ginevra breathed a sigh of relief the next morning when she went down into the Common Room. Percy was no where to be seen.

...

"If you keep smirking like that, you're going to break every reflective surface soon enough," Blaise muttered to Draco.

"Oh, shove off. I don't give a flying broom if the whole damn place comes down," he replied, still smirking broadly.

"What's he so happy about anyway? Finally beat Granger on a test, now that she's dead to the world?" Luna asked, grinning.

"No, something even better," Draco said, not rising to the bait. "Father is getting Dumbledore suspended."

His statement made them all go quiet, and they looked at him to ensure he wasn't playing a joke on them.

"It's the truth. He's done a bit of blackmailing here and there, and drawn up an Order of Suspension **with** the twelve signatures needed," Draco said gleefully. He looked at his pocket watch, and somehow, his smirk grew wider. "In fact, if you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself."

Right on time, Lucius Malfoy stepped out of the fireplace. He handed his cane to Draco, brushing the soot from his robes.

"Did you bring it?" Draco asked, barely able to hold in his excitement.

"Of course I did. Calm down, boy, you look foolish," he reprimanded.

Draco immediately nodded, stepping back. "Yes, Father."

"Now, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" he asked, looking at the gathered group.

Nodding once more, Draco introduced his father to each of them in turn, watching him for a response.

Lucius didn't seem disgusted by the presence of the Weasley siblings, and simply smirked at Ginevra, which had her blushing and ducking her head.

_I knew you would give in to the temptation of dark power_.

At their request, Lucius showed the students the Order of Suspension for Dumbledore. Severus came into the Slytherin Common Room soon after Lucius arrived, the wards informing him that the Floo system had been used.

They had a short conversation, Lucius clasping Severus' hand before he left to Hagrid's hut, where the (soon-to-be-ex) Headmaster was waiting with Cornelius Fudge.

...

"Ron!" Harry hissed loudly. "Ron!"

His noise was enough to wake Seamus up, but he didn't bring attention to the fact that he was. In fact, with the way Ron shot upright, Seamus doubted they would have noticed if he did move.

"Ron - that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom," Harry said.

_What the hell was an aragog_? Seamus wondered. His silent question wasn't answered, and for a moment there was nothing but silence as Potter continued to think. Seamus stifled a laugh when he heard Neville snoring.

"What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"

"You _don't_ think - not _Moaning Myrtle_?" Ron asked incredulously.

...

"I still cannae believe we're getting bloody exams," Seamus muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.

"I can't believe you almost killed McGonagall," Neville said, grinning. "You're lucky I created that distraction, or you would have lost your marbles, you madman."

"You made a table leg disappear, wasn't much of a distraction," Parvati said.

"I wasn't the one who screamed," Neville retorted, poking his tongue out at her.

"Neither was I. That was Lavender," she muttered, rubbing her ear.

"Would ye both shut up and study already?" Seamus hissed, seeing that Madam Pince was walking towards them.

Neville and Parvati looked at each other, then both turned to him and poked out their tongues.

...

Ginevra waited until Harry and Ron had sat down. The tremble in her hands wasn't quite fake, and the pale pallor to her skin wasn't due to makeup. She'd spent the better part of the night in the diary with Tom, and she wasn't feeling the best.

McGonagall made her announcement about the Mandrakes being ready for cutting, the Great Hall exploding into cheers and applause. Draco and Blaise were watching Ginevra so intently that neither one joined in the celebration.

She ignored their looks, their questions in her mind, and went to sit next to Ron. Her hands twisted in her lap as she waited for him to notice that she was beside him.

Ron helped himself to some more porridge, not even glancing at her. "What's up?"

Ginny didn't reply, instead glancing up and down the table quickly. Fred and George were at one end, both of them watching her. The other end held Neville, Seamus, and Parvati, the latter of whom was watching through Fred and George rather than listening to Lavender's inane dribble.

"Spit it out," Ron said, finally looking at her.

She rocked on the bench slightly, wondering just how long it would have taken her brother to realise that something was wrong if she hadn't literally come up and sat next to him. "I've got to tell you something," she mumbled.

Ginny couldn't look at Harry. Not even the fact that he looked so much like her Tom could make her look at him. If she did, then she wasn't sure what she'd do. Tom's feeling of hatred flowed through her so sharply, burning every nerve ending inside of her until she couldn't even stop the urge to wrap her hands around his scrawny throat and just squeeze. She twisted her hands some more.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

She tried to think of what to say. Even his voice made the burning feeling in her body turn that much hotter. She'd come to say something, hadn't she?

"_What_?" Ron asked, exasperated.

His tone was harsh, and she tried not to flinch. She opened her mouth to say something, but Harry leaned forward.

"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?"

Ginny took in a deep shuddering breath. He really did look like Tom when he got excited like that. No, he wasn't Tom...

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty," Percy said as he came up, looking pale.

She jumped up before she could give in to the urge to hex him. _He was ordering her about, even after she'd promised not to tell Fred and George about Penelope? Oh, that pompous little __**arse!**__ She couldn't wait to get her revenge on him_.

She gave him a look that made her look frightened - all the better to confuse Ron and Potter - and ran from the Great Hall before her friends realised what was happening.

Taking Tom's diary from her pocket, Ginevra slid behind a statue in case she had been followed. She didn't have a quill and ink with her, so she bit the skin around her fingernail until a dark drop of blood formed. She smeared a few drops of blood on the page, waiting for Tom's instruction. It didn't take long.

There was the all-too familiar push-pull sensation at her mind, and Tom took over her body to lead her to the girl's bathroom once more. They had one rooster left, and with its' blood, a final message to write.

...

Neville hurried along the corridor, his stomach twisting into knot after knot. The blood-written words were running through his mind faster than his feet could take him.

Hearing footsteps over the noise in his head, Neville hurried to hide behind a statue. Harry and Ron were muttering to each other, a piece of parchment clutched in Harry's fist as they went past.

Paling when he heard Ginevra's name, Neville tried to calm his erratically beating heart. The moment Harry and Ron were out of earshot, he bolted down to the Slytherin Common Room.

Draco and Blaise were going to **kill** him.

...

Ginevra was feeling light-headed, weak, her limbs felt heavy, and she was sure the Chamber had multiplied in front of her just to make her feel worse. But Tom was beside her, stroking her hair as he stole her power and soul.

He'd told her what he was going to do, knowing that Harry would come to save her as soon as he realised what it all meant. Although, Tom added, that Harry was a bit thick in some senses. But she wouldn't die. Not completely at least. Once he had fully formed, he would revive her, he promised.

Ginevra wasn't sure she trusted him - she'd seen as much of his life as he had of hers - but she was feeling nauseous and couldn't think clearly anyway; Tom was already starting to steal her power. With the amount of her heart and soul she'd poured into the diary, Ginevra wondered briefly just how much there was left to take. Or how she'd get it back.

Her eyes began to close, and she gripped Tom's hand tightly as darkness started to take over. He continued to stroke her hair, soothing her, and easing her into her death. Ginevra's world went dark, and moments later, Tom took her wand and stood.

He left her lying on the floor, her soul beginning to slip away from her body and into his. He revelled in the power, such latent power ready to be ripped apart and turned upside down. A thrilled shiver ran down his spine as he thought of all the destruction he could cause with the power she held.

Tom stayed in the shadows, perched atop a statue that was flat enough to be somewhat comfortable. And from there, he watched Ginevra's laboured and slow breathing. He continued to take her power, but at a slower rate than before. It wouldn't do to have one of his most promising proteges die over his greed. There were other lesser beings who could have that honour, after all.

A noise brought Tom out of his thoughts, and a slow smirk graced his lips. _Harry Potter had finally arrived_.

...

Draco and Blaise didn't kill him. They didn't even explode with anger and emotion. Instead, they turned within themselves, sitting side by side on the lounge, their masks firmly in place. Despite how close they were sitting, Neville was sure that there'd never been so much space between two human beings before.

He wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that he wasn't dead. On the one hand, he was still breathing, but on the other, death would have been such a better alternative than having to go through this. While one of his friends was down in the Chamber, presumably dying, another two of his friends looked ready to kill themselves if anything happened to Ginevra.

Soon after sunset, Fred and George came to the Slytherin Common Room with Lee, all three of them looking wooden and worried. Not one of them had been able to get through to Ginevra. No one knew if she was alive, if she'd planned all of this with Tom, or if she was going to die.

A feeling of nausea washed over him at the thought of Ginevra dying. Neville had to wonder if Tom could beat Harry, and if he did, would it be at the expense of Ginevra's life? And if she did die, how on earth did Tom expect them to follow him willingly? Most of them were only there because of Ginevra, or for her. The twins would definitely wilt and whither and die without her, no matter how independent they seemed. And himself? Well, he wasn't sure he could get over his guilt. He'd been told to do one thing, and he couldn't even do that! Maybe Gran was right, and he was nothing but a pathetic, spineless and useless waste of space?

Feeling sick again, Neville grabbed a pillow, clutching it to his body as if it would keep down the contents of his stomach.

_This was going to be the longest night of his life_.

...

End of the thirteenth chapter!

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it!

...


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

_Read on, oh faithful ones_...

...

Chapter Fourteen

...

There was something very wrong, and very different with Ginevra when Fred and George saw her next. It was to be expected - two souls mingling where only one should be, and the power that Tom had gradually taken from Ginevra suddenly returning with one horror-filled gasp, both her own power and his combined - all of it took a toll on her.

Dumbledore had looked at her, as if knowing exactly what she had done, what was inside of her, and she hadn't had enough energy to stare back defiantly. Then the moment was gone, but for Ginevra, the feeling remained. Dumbledore had ushered her and her parents out, instructing that hot chocolate should be administered. Hot chocolate, to cure everything that had happened to her over the past year; hot chocolate to keep the nightmares at bay; hot chocolate to dampen down every part of her that was filled with dark power, a power to rival Tom's own. Nothing and no one could do a thing to take it away from her.

All of the memories of Tom's sixteen years, all of the knowledge she had acquired over the last year - Light as well as Dark - and everything she had never known she'd wanted to know. Everything seemed to be spread out before her, everything laid out at her fingertips, and all she'd have to do is take hold.

But the feeling began to fade over the holidays, when she was kept an eye on by her family - the twins more than most. Her parents and other brothers didn't say it - had no need to say it - but they were afraid of her. Afraid of the look in her eye, the unfamiliar grip she had when holding her wand, as if she had years' more experience than the one year they thought she did. They had hushed conversations during the day, evolving into even louder conversations at night when they'd thought she'd gone to sleep. Their fear was evident in everything they didn't say and didn't do, and that spoke volumes about them.

Though the twins hated what their siblings and parents were saying and doing, they did admit that something was very different about their sister. She didn't smile the way she had, didn't seem to take pleasure in things the way she had only weeks, months, before. She was less like their beloved Ginevra and much more like Tom. It was a disturbing change to find that the three of them were becoming only two, and more than disturbing to find that the twins were no longer enough for each other. They needed their sister to feel complete, even in their everyday pranks.

Then, one August night, Ginevra crept into their room, and smiled at them, the way she had before the Chamber. In that moment, they would have followed her anywhere. She took their hands, leading them to the window before manoeuvring her way out and onto the roof. Without even hesitating for a moment, Fred and George followed her out.

"I want to go to Egypt," Ginevra announced after such a long silence that the twins thought she'd gone to sleep.

"Why there?" they asked, frowning in confusion.

"I've been thinking a lot lately, thinking my own thoughts and Tom's, and I keep seeing, or remembering, one person in Egypt. I want to find them," she replied.

She smiled again, the brilliant smile of her earlier days at Hogwarts, before Tom had taken over everything in her life.

"What will this person do?" George asked, frowning slightly.

"Return Tom to his former glory," Ginevra breathed.

Nestling her between them, Fred and George looked at each other over Ginevra's head, identical expressions of worry. They would follow Ginevra anywhere, do anything for her, and they both knew that. Yet, they were barely fourteen, and had no idea how to get to Egypt without assistance.

Their solution came the next morning when Molly was reading the _Daily Prophet_ after breakfast, a quill working hard to complete the answers for their prize-winning competition. The prize was an all-expenses-paid holiday to France. As they read that part, Fred and George grinned at each other. _They knew exactly how to get to Egypt_.

Later that day, they sent a letter to Draco using an unmarked owl captured from the woods in their backyard. The letter explained that Ginevra wanted to go to Egypt, and how their mother had entered the competition in the _Daily Prophet_. Lucius visited the editor's home within the hour. On the very next day, Molly received a letter from the _Daily Prophet_ telling her that she'd won the competition, but they were ever so sorry that the trip details had fallen through for France, but Egypt was an available option.

Molly wasn't exactly pleased, as she'd been looking forward to seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the opportunity to find shops in Paris that she could afford just to say that she had the latest robes from Paris itself. After a few comments from Percy about the educational aspects of the pyramids, and some quiet words from Arthur about a family holiday being a good thing to get over Ginny's first year, Molly finally relented and accepted the alternative.

Fred and George heard their father's comments, glowering at him when no one was looking. Ginevra didn't care about anything other than going to Egypt, and her happiness affected the twins. They found that they were genuinely excited about seeing the tombs, whispering late at night how they could trap Ron in the catacombs.

Ginevra went with Molly to buy maps and guidebooks for their trip, returning with her own purchases hidden in a large book of Egyptian maps, new and old. Her mother had been preoccupied with the scrolls and books, taking forever to simply choose a guidebook. She'd barely looked at Ginevra's large map book, and seeing that her mother was oblivious to her, Ginevra had gone to the back of the store to get the books she really wanted from the salesman.

The store owner had been terrified of this young girl who had stated exactly what books she wanted, and for the small price she would buy them for. The titles were ones that were hidden in the recesses of his store, their names only known by those in some of the darkest circles. He'd given them to her without asking any questions, but of a clear enough mind to hide the books within the girl's other purchase, simply glad to have the books out of his possession.

Later that night, sitting on the roof between Fred and George, Ginevra read passages of the books, codes hidden within the paragraphs that would lead her to the person she was looking for.

With the maps, they found the location referenced to in the books. It was nowhere near where they were staying, but getting to places that were forbidden was something that Fred and George excelled at.

They'd created a false bottom on their suitcases, a minor spell hiding the fact that it was there. Their father had already used a small expansion spell on the suitcase so that they could fit everything in with ease, much like he'd done with the car. Fred and George had decided not to add a false bottom to Ginevra's suitcase, considering their parents were still suspicious of her. They were both pleased and disgusted to be proven right when their parents went over every inch of their sister's suitcase, untrusting at every object they found.

When everyone was packed to Molly's satisfaction ("_really, Ronnie-kins, is the Chudley Cannons' figurine necessary?_") they left to the Daily Prophet, and on to Egypt.

...

Fred and George nodded to each other, pushing the large pyramid block in order to lock their brother in the tomb. Ron's shouts brought their parents running, wands drawn and minds filled of the undead. Fred and George hurried to pull the block, as if they were trying to get their youngest brother out of the tomb, but were quickly pushed away by Molly and Arthur who tried to use magic to no avail. Bill, who had agreed to show them around, hurried to use Egyptian magic to get Ron out before he was enclosed inside forever.

Percy had stayed at the hotel, his stomach churning with every remembered beetle-infused soup the twins had served him the night before. That event had been a distraction, as had this particular one with trapping Ron, and by the time the rest of their family made it out of the pyramids, it took almost fifteen minutes for Molly to realise that the twins had disappeared with Ginny again.

After spending nearly an hour searching for them, Molly hoped that they'd just gone straight back to the hotel as they had done only days before when the same thing had happened. Ron still wasn't looking the best after almost being locked in a crypt, so Molly left to the hotel with Arthur and Bill, hoping her children were all right. There was also a niggling feeling in the back of her mind about the look that had been on Ginny's face when she'd found them at the hotel the day before, an hour after they'd gone missing. Ginny had smiled at her, looking as innocent as she'd ever had, but something in her smile had given Molly the shivers, and she hadn't been able to look at her own daughter for the rest of the night.

By the time Molly, Arthur, Bill, and Ron arrived at the hotel almost forty-five minutes later, two hours since the three had gone missing, Ginny was sitting between the twins in their hotel suite, despite the only key resting in Arthur's pocket. Molly managed to repress her feelings of anger and annoyance long enough to get Ron settled into bed, and after checking on Percy, who was sound asleep, his arm curled around a ceramic pot, she returned to the room where her children and husband were waiting. On seeing the expression on Molly's face, Bill quickly said he had to return to work, Arthur asking if he could go with him to see the Egyptian Ministry. They were gone in moments, leaving the twins and Ginny to their own fate.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you!" Molly demanded, glaring at them. "That's the second time in as many days! Why would you run off without telling me where you were going?"

"You seem so worried about Ron," Fred started.

"And we knew you were already worried about Percy," George added.

"So we came back to check on him," Ginny finished.

For a moment, Molly simply stared. The twins had been doing their half-sentences for most of their lives, and she'd grown used to the fact that she'd probably never hear an entire sentence from one of them while the other wasn't asleep or in another room (although, sometimes not even that stopped them). The fact that Ginny had now started this private thing between the twins made her feel jealous in a way, and even more suspicious of her daughter than before.

"How did you get back here? And how did you get inside?" Molly demanded, not believing their reason for a moment.

"Knight Bus," Fred and George said together.

"Percy was awake and let us in. But he wasn't well, so we sent him back to bed," Ginny added.

There was a prolonged silence, as Molly tried to think of a way to make them slip up. She just knew that they hadn't been in the hotel suite for two hours.

"How much money do you have left?" she asked, feeling triumphant.

She knew exactly how much it cost to get from the pyramids to the hotel, and Molly knew how much they'd left with this morning. They should have eight Sickles and a number of Knuts each.

A knock at the door interrupted any response they were going to give, and Molly hurried over, opening the door with a glare.

The hotel's concierge looked surprised at her glare, but quickly smoothed his expression, smiling and waiting a moment for her to step aside before he wheeled the cart into the suite. He took the covers off the plates with a flourish.

"I ... I didn't order this," Molly said, flustered at the amount of food and the prices adding up in her mind.

"No, we did," Ginny said, flushing guiltily.

"We knew you'd be so worried that you'd forget to eat," George said.

"So we put our money together to get an early dinner for everyone," Fred said.

Ginny gave her remaining Sickle to the concierge as a tip, and he left the suite quickly, closing the door behind him.

Molly looked at them, suddenly tired and feeling overwhelmingly guilty at her accusations. "Thank you, children. It was lovely of you to do that... I am fairly hungry," she admitted.

Fred and George stood up, guiding her to a seat, and Ginny hurried to place the plates in front of her. She didn't serve it as she might have done once, having seen her mother's distrust over anything she did in the past few months.

There was a small pop as Arthur arrived with Bill, who didn't offer an explanation as to why he was suddenly no longer needed at work, and when they saw the food, they sat with Molly, hungry from their day as well. Sharing a grin, Fred, George, and Ginevra sat down to eat as well. The smell of food roused Percy and Ron long enough to come out. When he was sure that his food was normal, and he was sitting nowhere near the twins, Percy ate his food slowly, careful to watch each mouthful just in case.

...

Later that night, when their parents and brothers were full from their food and fast asleep, Ginevra and the twins hurried to put on their robes. They slipped out of the hotel suite, making sure that they didn't wake anyone up in the process.

The concierge waved them over when they arrived in the foyer, smiling at them.

"Your ride is waiting for you outside. When you have finished, you will be brought back immediately. If you need anything else, please, do not hesitate to fire call me," he added, handing Ginevra a business card with his grate number.

"Thank you, Paki. We will remember your usefulness, and mention you to the Malfoy family."

He inclined his head, grateful for the honour. "I thank you, Miss."

Ginevra nodded in return, leaving with the twins on either side of her. The car door was opened for them, and after giving their coordinates to the chauffeur, they left to their destination. Holding their hands tightly, Ginevra smiled at Fred and George. They were finally going to see the person who would be able to help bring Tom back.

...

End of the fourteenth chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it!


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